Diamond in the Rough
by ILOVENICO1000X
Summary: After Nico saves the life of a mysterious girl new to Rio, he soon learns that there is much more to her than meets the eye. But as their friendship grows stronger, strange happenings begin to occur and Nico will have to fight against all odds to save everything he's ever known and loved. Rated T for violence/action later on. Also written by EmmerzK!
1. Chapter 1

**Ladies and gentleman, thank you for joining me and ILoveNico1000x on our shared story, Diamond in the Rough! In this story, you're going to get a perfect taste of these two authors' best talents: humor and drama, ILoveNico1000x, and action/adventure, EmmerzK!**

**As you will see in this first chapter, there will be plenty of twists in this story like mine (Embrace the Rhythm, Sacrificial Loyalty, and Shine A Light; check 'em out if you haven't yet! :D) That's all I can think of to say on this end. Please R&R and enjoy! ;D Here's a note from ILoveNico1000x ;)**

**Me: What up guys? You ready for this? I know I am! I pitched this idea to EmmerzK a while ago and she loved it and it kept progressing into this! I'm so excited to be writing this story with such a talented writer (and friend) ;). So I know this will be great and you guys are gonna LOVE it! :) **

**Diamond in the Rough**

**Chapter 1**

Chloe awoke from her stiff position on the branch with a start. Shielding her blue-gray eyes with her wing, she looked up at the treetops to see them blowing in the wind and rain fiercely. The luscious drops splattered the trunk around her, many finding their way to her face and body.

Wiping her face of the water, however useless that was, she slowly stood and stretched, groaning a bit from the tightness in her wings. She looked down at the slightly baggy green sweatshirt that had been her brother's. It was unfortunately soaking up a lot of water and had started sliding down to her waist a bit farther than she'd normally like; but she didn't take it off. Since she had been separated from her older brother, Cameron, two years ago, she vowed to never take it off until she found him again. The few birds that had known the story only laughed at her proposal. _He's dead_, they'd say. _He's never coming back. Just like your parents._

Shaking off her bitter thoughts, the twenty-year-old bird slid off the branch and glided to the ground to a small puddle. Looking down at her reflection, she sighed in half sadness, half frustration. Her blue-gray eyes looked slightly puffy, her beak pulled into a frown; her bangs, normally pulled off to the right side of her forehead, were slightly disorganized, dispersing themselves across her forehead. Her golden yellow feathers also looked slightly dirty, but whether that was because she was really dirty or because she was looking in muddy water, she didn't know.

Carefully, she started trying to fix her bangs up, but they stubbornly stayed in their discombobulated state. Suddenly realizing how hungry, thirsty and tired she was (even though she just woke up), she sighed, looking around. Nobody was in sight to ask for directions to the city. The dangers of a small yellow canary like her flying through such powerful winds were numerous, but she didn't know anyone in the forest to ask for shelter from the wind and rain. Going to the city was her best bet right now.

She quickly wrung out some water from her sweatshirt sleeves before taking off into the air. She flew through the canopy high above and looked around, trying to spot city lights. Finally, a few miles to her right was the city she'd been searching for for months now. Excitedly, she took off to her desired destination: Rio de Janeiro.

**Xxx**

"Pedro, you're pulling too hard!"

"Dude, we gotta keep the water out!"

"I understand that, but if you pull the string too hard, it's going to-"

*SNAP*

Yellow canary and Red-crested cardinal fell to the ground with the now broken elastic string. Both landed in a large, tall box of packing peanuts rather ungracefully, peanuts poofing in all directions. A few birds chuckled while others ran to their aid, one of which was a Toco Toucan. The long-beaked bird looked down into the box with a tall Spoon-bill, Tipa, the affectionate owner of The Branch.

"You amigos okay?" Rafael asked into the box of packing peanuts.

Nothing was heard before some peanuts shifted, and a red head popped out suddenly, a lopsided grin on his face. "Well that went well."

A muffled groan was heard from the innards of the box, making Pedro chuckle. "Nico?" Tipa asked in concern as he and Rafael helped Pedro out. "You alright?"

More shuffling was heard from the box as Nico stood, but even at his full height, he couldn't be seen. "Umm…" They heard him mumble to himself, then more movement. Packing peanuts shifted in all directions now as the canary waded through, trying to find a way out. Pedro, standing on Rafael's head, watched on with wide eyes but a smirk, clearly entertained.

All movement within the box stopped suddenly. Rafael and Tipa exchanged a few glances with some other birds nearby. Rafael leaned into the box further, "Nic-"

"I'M STUCK IN A BOX OF PEANUTS!"

Pedro almost fell off Rafael's head in shock at Nico's sudden exclamation, and then started laughing at the packing peanuts flying into the air at random. Nico's sudden terror within the box wasn't exactly expected.

Tipa and Rafael chuckled as well, the latter digging through the box for his frantic friend. "Nico, Nico, calm down-"

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN-"

"Relax."

"SAME DIFFERENCE!" A yellow wing suddenly stuck out of the peanuts, an accusatory brown feather pointed at Tipa.

Rafael promptly reached down and grabbed his small friend, holding him up in front of everyone by the feathers on his back, and then gently setting him down.

Nico crumpled to his knees and nearly kissed the ground, "Ohh sweet relief…"

A snort nearby made his head snap up. Mahogany brown eyes narrowed dangerously at his best friend until he stood up and crossed his wings, "This is all your fault!"

"What!? Me!" Pedro spluttered. "What'd _I_ do!? I'm awesome!"

"Yeah, awesome at breakin' stuff!"

"Your face is breakin' stuff!"

"What?!" Nico asked incredulously.

"Yeah, so don't look in any mirrors!"

"What are you talkin' about!"

"I dunno, what're YOU talkin' about?"

"GAHHHHH!" Nico exclaimed, lunging at his laughing cardinal friend.

Rafael instinctively shot out a wing and stopped the canary from potentially strangling his friend while everyone else chuckled at the exchange. "Now now, children, let's not fight."

Nico momentarily stopped his struggling and brushed himself off, muttering sinisterly with a smirk, "You're right; we need him alive."

"Pah, how would you survive without me?" Pedro scoffed.

"It could be doable." Nico winked then marched off to the broken cord.

Pedro gasped, "What!? No you couldn't!"

Picking up the string and examining the damage, Nico sang, "Yes I cooould."

"No you couldn't! Who would hold your wing during the thunderstorms?"

"Hey! That's…" Nico whirled around, then glanced at the smirking birds around them subconsciously, "That's bogus."

"Or who would save you from the spiders that invade our hollow that are three times your size?" Pedro smirked at the memory.

"I'll have you know that that spider was bigger than you also!"

"Yeah well, while you were screamin' in the corner behind your bottlecap, I was fightin' it off!"

"IT BIT YOU!"

"Correction: It thought I was cute so it gave me a kiss."

"WHAT?!" Rafael and Nico exploded, one shocked, the other peeved. Rafael spoke again, "You definitely got bit; I'm the one who carried you to the sanctuary, remember?"

Pedro opened his beak, but Nico cut him off, "And _I'm_ the one who kept you company, if I may remind you."

"Fine," Pedro slumped, but a smirk soon came to his beak as he looked back at his yellow friend, "But I still saved you from the spider."

Nico's face portrayed that he was trying to make up a good comeback but his frustrated eyes fell to a packing peanut laying by his feet, "Yeah well… just… MEH!" Nico kicked the peanut at his friend with all his might and it hit Pedro right in his rotund belly. It just fell back down to the ground and he stared at it, as did Nico. Both birds made eye contact, glancing between each others' eyes and the fallen peanut again before one of them snorted. Then the other, and soon enough both were laughing hysterically.

Rafael rolled his eyes, shaking his head at Tipa and a few others. He knew exactly how they operated on days like this; The Branch was typically hard to keep dry on rainy days, so usually a last minute construction would take over in which many birds would help the loved headliners and owner tie up tarps to protect the club. Usually the duo would get highly stressed with each other, argue a little bit, and end up laughing their brains out. It happened every time.

Rafael stepped forward, interrupting their giggles, "Alright ladies, emotion/drama time is over, so I think we'd better get those tarps up or it'll stop raining before we're even done."

Both birds gaped at him and Pedro raised an eyebrow, "Did you?"

"Yup," Nico remarked flatly, equally ashamed of his Toucan friend.

"You just called us… girls?" Pedro squeaked and resisted the urge to shiver.

Rafael and Tipa rolled their eyes, the latter finally speaking, "You two are seriously not over that? You're not kids anymore; women are-"

"Dramatic?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"Whiny?" Pedro offered.

"Emotional!"

"And they don't stop-

"TALKING!" The two small birds finished together.

Rafael chuckled with many other birds before he spoke, "While all that is true, they also have many strong points. For example, they're beautiful!"

"If you're lucky-" Pedro muttered, but a stern glare from Rafael shut him up.

"Kind," Tipa threw in.

"Loving!"

"Happy!"

"And much more!" Rafael grinned, spreading his wings in happiness as he thought of Eva. Looking back down at his two friends looking up at him glumly, he dropped his wings. Then he pointed at each of them, "Someday you two are going to meet nice girls and you will _never_ feel the same again."

"Pah, I agree with you." Pedro chuckled.

Tipa frowned, "Hey, be nice. Where'd we be without women? Really!"

Nico interrupted Pedro's sputtering with a shrug, "I'm not saying I don't agree with you guys, but the only girls I've had experience with are either extremely flirty or snobby. If that's women for ya, I think I'm good with me, myself and I. And Pedro."

"Yeaaah buddy!" Pedro gave his friend a high five.

"Ach, someday you'll see." Rafael shrugged in defeat.

Tipa nodded in agreement, and turned back to the workers who had returned to the tarps, "Alright, let's get this over with."

Over the next few hours, the entire group focused on the problem at wing and managed to get a decent rain cover over the beloved club's outside tarps. But, just as Rafael predicted, by the time they actually finished, the rain had long since stopped. They decided to leave it up for future storms though; it was rainy season.

Many of the birds left to go find food or go back to their hollows and families once the job was done, but Rafael, Tipa, Nico and Pedro all stood outside The Branch, surveying the damage the storm had done.

"Man, I hate rain." Pedro whined.

"I rather like it. Makes the air cool; fresh!" Rafael smiled.

Nico shrugged indifferently as he looked down in a puddle, smoothing down his already flat feathers and adjusting his bottlecap. As he absentmindedly made faces at himself, using the conversation as good background noise to distract himself, he noticed a flash of yellow and green above him in the reflection.

Instinctively he looked up to see a female yellow canary wearing a green sweatshirt flying past them, her expression neutral but distant; she didn't seem to be paying attention to where she was going.

That was when Nico saw the truck zooming at top speeds down the street. His eyes flitted back to the girl, waiting for her to pull up and fly over it. When she continued on her course, Nico's eyes shifted between her and the truck a few more times.

"Umm…" he hummed as if she could hear him.

"Nico, you listenin'?" Pedro asked, then frowned at Nico's sudden fearful expression. "Nico? Nico!"

Nico suddenly bolted forward and flew away from his friends, trying to get to the girl. She wasn't stopping or moving in any direction except forward; if she didn't change her direction, she'd be killed!

Chloe continued flying absentmindedly, her mind on a million things other than her current location. She was startled out of a reverie when a sudden deep voice shouted behind her, "MOVE!"

She whirled around in time to see a male yellow canary, wearing a bottlecap on his head, full out tackle her out of the air. She screamed lightly as they tumbled down, landing and rolling violently in the mud and rain water on the side street. The truck zoomed by seconds later, missing them by merely a few inches.

As they fell, the canaries hit a bunch of debris, knocking a wooden plank out of place. Unfortunately said wooden plank was at the bottom of a pile, holding it all up. Boxes of tools and random junk teetered and Nico barely had time to grab the girl's wing and yank her out of the way, almost leaving his bottlecap behind.

Just before they leapt to safety, a massive wrench came down and clunked Chloe on the side of the head. The hit knocked her out cold and she crumpled to the ground. The junk continued falling and Nico, without anything else to do, threw himself on top of the girl in the hopes that they wouldn't be crushed. The junk fell in a massive heap overtop of them and they were soon obliterated from view.

Rafael, Pedro and Tipa had long since flown across the street to their aid, but help came too late by the time they actually got there. They stood there in shock for a few moments, trying to process everything that had happened in the past thirty seconds. Rafael was naturally the first to snap out of the daze.

"Come on! We've gotta dig them out!"

The three birds dug around frantically, throwing screwdrivers, nails, screws, wrenches and anything that wasn't too heavy over their shoulders and out of the way. Pedro gasped lightly when he found Nico's bottlecap, holding it up sadly.

"Don't stop, Pedro, we've gotta-" Rafael started, but Tipa cut him off.

"I found 'em!"

Tipa hefted a large wrench off the two canaries so they were visible. Rafael gingerly picked Nico up and Tipa followed suit with the girl. Pedro waved Nico's bottlecap in his face, trying to revive his friend. Tipa tried unsuccessfully to wake the girl.

"Rafael, do you recognize her?" The Spoon-bill asked.

Rafael looked at her for a few moments before shaking his head, "No, I've never seen her before in my life."

"Guess that means you no longer know everyone then, huh?"

"Nico!" Pedro and Rafael exclaimed as Nico pulled himself out of unconsciousness. After a few seconds, he slowly sat up, rubbing the back of his neck and stretching it.

"Ow…"

"You alright?" Tipa asked in concern.

"Yeah, just got a dent…" Nico glanced at the tool pile behind them. "Wasn't out for that long?"

"Nah, just a couple minutes," Pedro smiled.

Nico's eyes widened suddenly and he turned around to see Tipa still gently holding the girl. "She okay?"

"A wrench hit her in the temple, I think," Tipa frowned sadly. "She'll be out for a while."

Pedro looked up at Rafael, "To the Sanctuary then?"

Rafael nodded, helping Nico stand. "Can you fly?"

Trying to wipe the mud off his wings, Nico nodded with a smile, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm honestly more worried about her."

Rafael and Tipa exchanged a sly smiled, "Oh _really_?"

Nico raised an eyebrow before shaking his head violently and emitting a sputtering noise, "Seriously?! I haven't even talked to her yet!"

"Yet!" Rafael winked.

"Ohhhh Nico got a girlfriend! Nico got a girlfriend!" Pedro sang and danced in a circle.

Nico glared at him but ignored them, "Come on, she needs medical attention." The canary stomped off and took to the air, leaving his smirking friends behind.

"It _is_ just a little bit early to be playing matchmaker, don't you think Rafael?" Tipa asked as they took off after him, the girl on Rafael's back.

Rafael scoffed, "Heh, no."

**Xxx**

The pain blooming in her head was worse than anything she'd ever experienced—searing through her skull, starting at her right temple, and effectively giving her the worst headache ever known to birds.

She gradually opened her eyes, the bright lights only intensifying her pain. When she could get her eyes opened all the way, she groaned and ended up closing them again.

"Hey, you wakin' up?" a voice asked her from the left. It sounded ever so slightly familiar, but she couldn't place it until she looked at him.

Now that they weren't rolling through the air and debris, she could now get a good look at him, and, although she would never say so out loud, there was a definite palpitation in her heart. The male canary that had tackled her out of the air had the deepest brown eyes that she'd ever seen, the bottlecap on his head was slightly cocked onto his left eyebrow, and a small smile on his beak—he had to be most attractive thing she'd seen in a longtime.

Realizing she was staring at him, she blinked and shook her head, but instantly regretted it. Groaning she put a wing to her temple, realizing her head was wrapped in some cloth.

"Easy there, girlie," the canary smiled gently. "You got a minor concussion from that wrench that fell on you."

Chloe gradually opened her eyes again and looked at him, unsure what to say. He looked equally stumped, but suddenly had a thought. "Gosh, I'm an idiot… My name is Nico." He smiled wide, making her reciprocate the gesture.

"Chloe," she whispered, holding out a wing, which he lightly shook. "You saved my life…"

Nico gave her a lopsided smile before looking away awkwardly, "Well… I wasn't going to just stand there and watch you get smushed."

Chloe giggled at his terminology, making his eyes meet hers again and a smirk soon found its way onto his beak. Chloe looked down at the rest of her body to make sure she had no other injuries, but the lack of one thing made her bolt upright, almost knocking her forehead into Nico's.

"WHERE'S MY SWEATSHIRT?!" She exclaimed frantically, looking around wildly.

Nico had fallen backwards at her sudden leap and excited scream, but he struggled to sit back up, "It's over there! Drying. In the sun. Doctor decided to wash it."

Chloe visibly relaxed when she realized it wasn't thrown out. She exhaled heavily, putting a wing to her forehead, mumbling, "I'm sorry… It was my brother's…"

Nico's eyes shifted away for a moment, not sure if he should ask where the aforementioned brother was. He decided such a question to somebody he barely knew wouldn't be smart, so he let the matter drop, merely nodding once and saying, "Oh."

Chloe looked up at him, unsure what to say. Finally a question popped into her mind, "We're still in Rio de Janeiro right?"

Nico snorted and laughed a tad, "Sweetheart, I would not take you _anywhere_ other than Rio."

Chloe raised an eyebrow at the pet name, but casually asked, "Really?"

"Yep. This city is my life." Nico smiled, leaning back on his wings to look at the window across the room, starting to miss the sights and sounds of the jungle already. And it had only been a few hours. Rafael and Pedro left for a little bit to get some food and/or check on the Toucan family while Nico and Chloe had gotten checkups, and both friends oh so mildly _insisted_ that Nico stick around after his checkup to make sure the girl wasn't left alone. Since he saved her life, he should be the one to spend time with her. That's what Rafael said anyway; Nico knew better than to believe such tales; the old Toucan was playing matchmaker. And again, it had only been a few hours.

"It is pretty, that's for sure…" Chloe smiled, fiddling with her flight feathers in her lap.

Nico nodded, voicing his thoughts, "You're not from around here then?"

Chloe shook her head, "No, I'm… I'm actually here looking for my brother, Cameron. He's four years older than me, but we look almost identical; seen him by any chance?"

Nico shook his head almost immediately, "Sorry girlie; sadly I'm one of the very few canaries around here, besides my own family that is; and save a few others."

Chloe slumped and sighed, "Alright…"

"Where are you from then?" Nico asked, trying to distract her. Clearly she was sad about not knowing where her older sibling was.

"Well, I was born in Brasilia, but I've been travelling here, there and everywhere with Cameron since I was three. I don't really remember much before then…" Chloe trailed off thoughtfully.

Nico paused, unsure if he should ask his next question. "And your parents?"

He immediately regretted it when she looked away, mumbling, "They're gone."

"Sorry…"

"It's okay," Chloe immediately brightened. "Again, I don't remember much so if they had died when I was older it would have been a bigger deal. Not like it wasn't a big deal, I'm just saying-"

With a smile, Nico put a feather to her beak to shut her up; she looked down at his wing and smiled sheepishly. When he removed it with a light chuckle, she said sheepishly, "Sorry… sometimes I get a little too excited…"

"S'okay-"

"NICO!"

A female voice erupted from across the room and Nico jumped, then put his wing to his face with a moan, "Here we go…"

Chloe looked just in time to see a light yellow female canary land beside her new friend, scoop him up in her wings and strangle him in a hug. Another male canary that looked just like Nico landed behind her, a smile on his beak; a red-crested Cardinal, who chuckled at the exchange, also landed beside them.

Nico sighed and tried to wriggle out of her grasp, "Hi mom-"

"Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?! Don't you care about your poor old mother anymore?!" she cried, tightening her grip.

"Of course I do, mom, but it wasn't that big a deal! I was only out for a few-"

"Being out at all is a bad thing! You need to tell me these things!" she exclaimed, finally letting him go and snatching his bottlecap off his head. As she spoke, she proceeded to fluff the feathers on his head, but they stubbornly stuck down. She wetted her wingtips with her tongue and tried to get them up, much to his chagrin.

"Ugh, moooom! How many times do I have to tell ya not to-"

"Ahem!" she crossed her wings.

Nico slumped and looked behind her with a dubious expression, "Hey dad."

"Hey son," the father smiled, slapping his son's shoulder gently. Turning to his mate who was still ruffling their son's feathers, he raised an eyebrow and took the bottlecap from her, "Hannah, let the poor boy go."

"But how is he_ ever_ supposed to go about meeting a nice girl and starting a family if he doesn't _look_ good?!" Hannah exclaimed.

Pedro snorted as Nico's face and neck turned red, glancing behind his mother to where Chloe was giggling into her wing uncontrollably. "Moooom…" he murmured in embarrassment.

"What?" Hannah turned to see Chloe sitting there in her bed, still giggling. The mother bird squealed excitedly, then hugged Nico tightly, "You have a girlfriend?! Why didn't you tell me!?"

"MOM, SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

"I'm not his girlfriend…" Chloe chimed in. "We just met actually; he saved my life this morning."

Hannah let go of her son and looked between them before finally shrugging with a suspicious smile, "Well it's a start."

Nico slapped his forehead, "I'm gonna explode."

"Don't do that, I just finished with your feathers." Hannah reached forward but Nico dodged and ran behind his dad.

"No! Mom, ya gotta stop! I'm twenty-two years old for Samba's sake!" Nico cried, peeking out from behind a shoulder.

His dad chuckled, "He's right Hannah. Anyhow, I think it would be best if we actually introduced ourselves to his _friend_. Although I'm sure she's figured us out by now." He winked at Chloe as he stepped toward her.

Chloe giggled, taking his wing, "I'm Chloe."

"Aaron," he kissed her wingtips, earning an eye roll from his son.

"Ever the charmer," Nico smirked.

Aaron stood up straight, grinning, "Hey, you had to learn from somebody."

Hannah also shook Chloe's wing with a smile, but then bent down to whisper, "Don't rule my son out so quickly; he's quite a catch that not many girls have had the opportunity to have, so keep an open mind."

Chloe raised an eyebrow with a smirk, "You really want him to settle down, don't you?"

Hannah made a face, sarcasm laced in her voice, "What makes you say that?"

"Alrighty mom, times up," Nico hopped forward, also speaking sarcastically. "I'm sure you two will have plenty of time to talk about me later."

"Why, do you have plans on bringing her over to see me?" Hannah smirked.

Nico took the opportunity to lunge to his left and drag Pedro over to introduce him to Chloe, "This is Pedro; we've been best friends since we were little."

"Yo girl, wassup?" Pedro shook her wing excitedly.

Chloe giggled, prying her wing away, "Nuthin much."

"Great! Then you should come visit The Branch toni-"

"Whoa dude, she's not going anywhere; Tulio said she had to stay here for at least a day to make sure she doesn't hurt her head worse." Nico reminded him.

"Oh… Well, as soon as you're better, we're takin' you to The Branch!" Pedro grinned, posing with his wings to be cool.

"What's The Branch?" Chloe asked.

Pedro gasped very loudly, his beak and eyes so wide everyone thought his eyes would pop out and his beak would touch the floor. Nico patted his shoulder, "Relax bud, she's not from around here." Turning back to Chloe, he smiled, "It's an all-birds club downtown; open all day every day. Pedro and I are the headliners!"

"And they're _very_ good." Aaron grinned at them in pride.

"You guys sing?" Chloe asked in excitement. "That's awesome! I'll definitely come by sometime!"

"Great!" The two boys piped.

Another bird suddenly landed on the counter beside them all; another female yellow canary with blazing blue eyes, freckles across her cheeks and a confident smile on her beak. Her bangs were pulled across her forehead in a similar fashion to Chloe's, but the volume of them, plus extra sparkle in her feathers, showed how high she was in the fashion world.

"Hey guys!" She stepped forward, but pretty much ignored them all besides Nico. "I heard you got hurt, so thought I'd come check on you."

"Hey Amanda…" Nico mumbled, glancing at Chloe. The blue-gray-eyed bird merely raised an eyebrow at the girl's sudden appearance; and how she walked toward Nico with a little extra bounce in her step and the oh-too-sweet smile on her face; it just seemed a little off.

"So you're okay then?" the girl pressed.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." Nico smiled lightly, but mostly avoided eye contact.

Chloe looked at Nico's parents and Pedro; all three were either avoiding eye contact, had their eyes narrowed at the girl or wings crossed, or a somehow possible mixture of all three. It wasn't hard to figure out that the family didn't exactly like Amanda…

The girl suddenly noticed Chloe sitting in her bed a few steps away, raised an eyebrow, then turned to Nico and asked in a rude voice, "Who is _that_?"

Nico glanced between the two girls for a few seconds before shrugging, "Just a friend."

Amanda's eyes narrowed at Chloe, "Just a _friend_, eh?" She stared at Chloe like she was a cat on the prowl, making the younger girl pretty uncomfortable.

Nico stepped in between them to break the glare, "Amanda, stop. Just met her this morning."

"Oh really?" Amanda asked in a fake sweet voice as she looked into Nico's eyes. "That's real sweet, but remember you have an impending date, yes?"

"WHAT!?" Nico's parents and Pedro exclaimed.

Nico rolled his eyes and looked away with a grim swallow. "I thought we had called that off?"

Amanda scoffed, "Who told you that? Cuz as far as we're concerned, that date is not going anywhere." She had stepped closer to Nico as she spoke, making him step away and bite back a growl.

Amanda smirked and stepped away, walking toward the window again. With a wink at Nico and no acknowledgement of the others, she smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Everyone watched her fly away and out the window, Chloe being the most shocked at the exchange. As soon as Amanda disappeared, Nico's parents and friend whirled on him, making him hop back in fear.

Aaron spoke first, "Please tell me you didn't-"

"Ask her out?" Nico interrupted, "Please, like I would never ask her out."

"Then why do you have an 'impending date'?" Hannah asked, crossing her wings sternly.

"Yeah man, when did this happen? You can't _stand_ Amanda!" Pedro piped.

"Don't remind me!" Nico growled in frustration. Giving a short apologetic glance to Chloe, he replied, "A week or so ago, I was with some of my classmates that I graduated with. We were playing a game like Truth or Dare, but only dares; since nobody really likes Amanda except her snobbish posse, there was a card that forced whoever drew it to take her on a date. Sadly I drew it, and if she hadn't been sitting _right there_, we all would've blown it off because everyone felt bad."

Hannah sighed in frustration, "Why do you kids play these games?"

"Mom, it wasn't like I was expecting to be cornered into a date with the snobbiest girl in all of Rio!" Nico exclaimed. Sighing heavily, he turned to Chloe, "Alright, I think you've had to listen to enough of my life's drama, so we're changing the subject."

Chloe shrugged, "Whatever you want; I'm flexible."

"Wait, one last question and we'll drop it." Aaron said, getting his son's attention. "Where is this date and what do you plan on doing?"

Nico shrugged, "I don't know… she insisted that she'd make the plans. I honestly don't even want to think about it."

"Well be careful," his dad warned. "She's been in love with you for how long now?"

"Too long," Nico moped, rubbing his face. "And _this_ is why I'm not interested in dating."

Chloe's hopes dropped on the inside. _Well that didn't last long._ But Hannah's words came back to her suddenly: _Don't rule him out so quickly._ She smiled to herself at that reminder; but she lightly shook her head. She hasn't even known him for a full day yet; no way she was gonna start crushin' on him yet!

But even more importantly, she was finally in Rio to find Cameron. There was no point in wasting time with getting interested in a guy she barely knew and wouldn't know for long. Cameron was far more important. If Cameron wasn't here in Rio, she'd leave to the next city to continue her search, as she always did.

"Well," Aaron smiled, wrapping up the conversation that had been going on. "I think it's time we headed out."

"Yes. It was nice seeing you Pedro and wonderful meeting you, Chloe." Hannah smiled warmly at her; Chloe nodded. Then she turned to her son, "And _you_ had better come by and see us sometime; just cuz you're older doesn't mean-"

Nico shut her up by pulling her into a tight hug. Her voice stopped in her throat and she sighed, hugging him back. "I love you, mom. I'll see you soon."

Hannah pulled back, smiling up at him. She still couldn't believe he was taller than her… Images of her little Nico running around their hollow suddenly flooded her mind-

She shook her head, snapping those lethargic thoughts away, "Love you too, honey. Bye!"

"Later dad!"

"Bye Nico, Pedro; Chloe." Aaron waved, then followed his mate out the window across the room.

As soon as they disappeared, Nico slid to his knees with an exhausted sigh. Pedro smiled at him and Nico looked at Chloe with a shake of his head, "Parents."

"More like mothers."

"Nah, more like girls in general."

"And this goes back to this morning's conversation with Raffy and Tipa!" Pedro laughed.

Chloe crossed her wings defiantly, "And what conversation would this be?"

Nico and Pedro nervously chuckled, realizing they had almost started dissing girls right in front of one. "Haha, oh nothing," Nico smiled, carefully avoiding eye contact.

**EmmerzK: AHH So Waddya think!? ILoveNico1000x will be the publisher, as I'm at college and can't get off at a decent time ;) Haha So I'll be able to review too! Although I probably won't since, well, I'm one of the authors! Lol But anywho, feel free to PM me! :D Thanks guys & I'm so looking forward to writing this story! EmK out ;)**

**Me: Btw, EmmerzK wrote this first chapter, I'll be writing the next one, we'll be taking turns. I figured I should let you know that way you can compare our writing styles...Haha! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter as much as I did! Leave a friendly review and we'll see ya in chapter two! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! This chapter was written by ILoveNico1000x ;) She did a super great job & there is lotsa humor that I know you'll enjoy! There is also just a snippet of mystery as well! Hehehe Hope you enjoy guys, & keep up the reviews! :D ~EmmerzK**

**Chapter 2**

* * *

"SCORE!" Pedro shouted at the top of his lungs as he rolled past the makeshift goal. Nico grumbled a negative response and Pedro smirked, "Six to five, I win!"

"No, we're playing to seven!" Nico exclaimed, rolling up next to his friend.

"Since when?"

"Since now!"

Pedro looked at Rafael, who was the referee, in question. Rafael just shrugged and nodded in Nico's direction. Pedro rolled his eyes and muttered, "Fine, we'll play to seven, but I'm still gonna win!"

"We'll see…" Nico smirked as he rolled his skates to the center line. He and Pedro were currently in the middle of a hockey match. With the help of Rafael, they were able to get mini skateboards and tie them to their talons. Using a penny as the puck, they had a well heated game going on. They had even attracted the attention of a small crowd.

"Yeah we'll see!" Pedro pumped his stick in the air energetically, bringing a bout of cheering from the crowd. Nico rolled his eyes slightly as Pedro skated to a stop in front of him. "You ready to get owned?"

Nico narrowed his eyes at him and said threateningly, "We'll see who will be owning who…"

"YEAH WE'LL SEE!" Pedro shouted again, earning more cheering from the crowd.

"Stop saying that!"

Rafael suddenly came in between them with the 'puck' and exclaimed, "Are you two ready?"

Pedro, who wasn't listening to Rafael, smiled mockingly and said, "You're just jealous."

Rafael started the countdown, "Three."

"The crowd loves me more than you!"

Nico had to stop the smirk from forming on his face.

"Two."

Pedro looked over at the crowd and held his stick up in the air, "YEAH!"

"One!" Rafael threw the puck on the ground in-between Nico and Pedro and quickly stepped out of the way. Nico smiled as he got control of the puck and reeled around Pedro, towards his goal.

It took Pedro a moment to realize the game had started but when he did, he exclaimed, "WHAT?" He glared at Rafael who just shrugged with a smile. Pedro growled and quickly skated after Nico. It didn't take long for Pedro to gain speed and accelerate forward with greater momentum than Nico could ever produce. But Nico was still a good foot ahead of him, pumping his legs faster towards the goal. When he was close enough, he hit the puck as hard as he could, sending it flying in the air, just as Pedro caught up and tackled Nico to the ground. Both birds looked up in time to see the puck land in the goal successfully. Nico would've cheered but he couldn't because a certain cardinal was smothering him to death.

Rafael lifted Pedro off of Nico and said, "Six to six."

Nico looked over to his friend and smirked, "Who's owning who now?"

Pedro gaped at Rafael and cried, "I wasn't ready!"

The toucan just shook his head and grinned, "I asked you if you were ready but you weren't listening amigo. That's your fault."

Pedro scowled and pointed a flight feather at Nico, "The game's not over yet, canary boy!"

Nico raised his eyebrows in surprise as Pedro skated past him towards the center line. Nico looked up at Rafael and suppressed a laugh as they both followed the cardinal. Nico and Pedro faced each other with narrow eyes as if they were in the middle of a death match. Pedro made his 'game face' and curled his flight feathers, making sure he was ready this time. Nico adjusted his bottle cap and gave his friend a crooked, intimidating smile.

Rafael walked up to them and said, "Are you ready?" Both competitors nodded and the toucan asked, "Are you sure?" Pedro gave him blank look and nodded. "All right then. Three. Two. One. GO!"

Rafael dropped the puck again and ducked as Pedro went zooming forward, spinning around Nico, ultimately getting the puck and tripping Nico. Pedro laughed as he looked over his shoulder at the now dazed Nico. The canary, who was still recuperating from the impact, quickly and shakily stood up, placed his bottle cap back on his head, and used every muscle in his legs to gain speed. Realizing that catching up to Pedro when he was so far ahead was hopeless, so Nico slowed down a little and smirked as an idea popped in his head. He took his bottle cap off his head and aimed it at his friend. Since he's had lots of practice playing Frisbee, he easily threw it perfectly, hitting Pedro square in the back, knocking him over. He laughed as he skated past his angry looking friend.

"That's against the rules!" Pedro complained.

"This is street hockey; there are no rules!" Nico laughed again as he got control of the puck and started towards Pedro's goal. Pedro quickly recovered and skated after him, grumbling unhappy comments under his breath.

Rafael watched in amusement along with the crowd as Pedro pumped his legs as hard as he could, effectively allowing him to catch up to Nico. Almost in slow motion, Pedro used all the force he could muster and jumped up, tackling Nico to the ground again. The puck slowed to a stop a couple feet in front of the goal.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Nico yelled, struggling to get his wings free.

"NO! IF I'M GOING TO LOSE, SO ARE YOU!"

"WHAT? THAT'S AGAINST THE RULES!"

"THERE ARE NO RULES!"

"WELL IF THERE WERE, YOU'D BE BREAKING THEM!"

Rafael chuckled a little at the boys' pointless banter before fluttering over to them. He picked Pedro up off of Nico and said, "All right you two it's just a game."

Nico stood up and crossed his wings, "Yeah, and I would've won if it weren't for this cheater!"

"Cheater? Nuh uh! I ain't no cheata cheata!" Pedro snapped two flight feathers with an offensive expression.

"You callin' me a liar?"

"I ain't callin' you for dinner!"

Nico and Pedro stopped and looked at each other before bursting into fits of laughter.

"Dinner?" Nico gasped between laughs, "I don't wanna go to dinner with you!"

"I had to think of something to say!" They laughed again as Rafael stood there looking rather confused. The crowd eventually got bored and left and after the laughing subsided, Pedro said, "Man the way you threw your bottle cap was great! Ya gotta teach me how to do that!"

Nico nodded with a chuckle but suddenly noticed his bottle cap still laying on the ground near his goal. He looked at Pedro and smirked, "Race you to my bottle cap?"

"You are on!"

* * *

"Yo Raffy!" Pedro exclaimed, beak full of popcorn, "What would you do if I threw this popcorn at you?"

Rafael stared at the ocean waves rolling onto the uneven shoreline as he responded flatly, "Throw it back at you."

Pedro nodded and stuffed his beak full of the salty snack. Nico sighed happily as he lay on his back, allowing the warm sand to sooth him. Pedro swallowed, almost gagging himself in the process, and said, "We should play another game, only this time Rafael gets to choose it."

Rafael grinned, "I don't wanna brag amigo, but I'm a champ at volleyball." Nico and Pedro both stared at him in confusion and Rafael laughed, "Nah I'm just kidding. Besides, I'd probably have to explain the rules."

"Why don't we play something we all know? Like soccer?" Pedro suggested.

Nico sat up and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, saying, "Uh actually I was gonna go see how Chloe-"

"Ohhhh Chloe!" Pedro tauntingly winked at the canary.

"Is that the girl you saved this morning?" Rafael asked with a smirk. Nico nodded and avoided eye contact. Rafael chuckled and added, "Well I haven't officially met her yet. We could all go see her right now?"

"Yeah, let's go see Chloe." Pedro mockingly nudged Nico earning a well deserved glare in his direction.

"Dude, I barely know her!"

"Yet!"

"Shut up!" Nico whined.

"Okay okay!" Pedro stuffed a few more pieces of popcorn in his beak and said, "I can take a hint…for now."

Nico rolled his eyes and wordlessly pushed his friend over, quickly taking to the sky, he called back, "Come on slow pokes, to the sanctuary!"

Rafael looked down at Pedro, who was trying to shove as many pieces of popcorn as he could fit in his mouth, "Houana!" He muffled out.

"What?"

Pedro tried to speak again but was unsuccessful. Rafael just laughed and said, "Come on." He took to the sky after Nico and Pedro quickly followed.

* * *

Chloe quickly and quietly slipped her sweatshirt over her head and headed for the window. The doctor hadn't officially allowed her to leave yet but she decided to try and sneak out without being noticed. Now, the only problem was that the window was shut so she would need to open it.

"Okay." She took a deep breath, "I can do this." Using her wings, she tried lifting the window open. No such luck. She then fluttered up and tried to pull the window open with her talons. When that didn't work she tried to break the window by throwing random objects at it. Eventually she gave up and just leaned her head against the window, staring at beautiful Rio rainforest. "I'm a prisoner." She mumbled.

"You know there's a window open in the other room right?" A sudden voice from behind her made her jump. She whirled around to see Nico, Pedro and a toucan she did not recognize.

"Nico! You scared me!" Chloe clutched her chest and breathed heavily. Finally, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Came to check on you." There was something about the tone in his voice and his crooked smile that made her blush lightly. She quickly covered up for it by turning away from him and looking out the window again. Nico raised an eyebrow and asked, "What're you doing?"

"Just uh trying to open this window…" The sweatshirt wearing canary scratched the back of her head and faced him.

"Girl I thought you had to stay here until tomorrow?" Pedro asked curiously.

Nico looked back at Chloe and crossed his wings, "She does."

Chloe slumped and avoided Nico's stare. Finally, she locked eyes with him and burst out, "I'M SO BORED!" She took Nico's wing and got down on her knees, "Please, you gotta get me outta here! They're torturing me!"

Rafael chuckled a little, "Something tells me she doesn't wanna stay here."

Nico was taken aback by the sudden exclamation and he said, "Whoa, calm down now. What are they doing to you?"

"NOTHING! I am forced to sit here and do nothing all day and it's so boring! I could be out looking for my brother!"

Nico stared at her in surprise. He definitely wasn't expecting her to freak out like this. He looked up at Rafael for help and the toucan rolled his eyes, "Okay how about this? If you honestly don't wanna stay any longer, we can get Tulio to give you a quick check up. It seems to me you're feeling just fine."

Chloe nodded fervently and said, "I am, I really am!"

Rafael grinned, "All right don't hurt yourself. I'm Rafael by the way, but you can me Raffy if you want."

"I'm Chloe." She smiled kindly.

"Well Chloe, I'll go get Tulio for you."

The toucan took off and Pedro quickly followed, "Wait dude I'm coming with!" The cardinal gave Nico a wink and flew off with Rafael.

Nico rolled his eyes a little, hoping Chloe didn't notice Pedro's little innuendo. He looked over at her and she smiled shyly, "Sorry about freaking out like that. It's just that I've been sitting here all today and I've been worrying about my brother and I just figured that if I'm gonna be sitting here I might as well do something-" Nico cut her off by placing a feather on her beak again. She giggled lightly, about to apologize again but Nico shook his head.

"Don't worry about it." He chuckled. "So if you get outta here today you wanna…I dunno…hang?"

Chloe smiled happily and nodded, "I actually need someone who knows their way around this city. You could show me around and while doing so help me look for my brother?"

Nico nodded, "Sure thing!"

Rafael and Pedro flew back into the room soon followed by Tulio. The doctor walked over to the counter and smiled softly, "I hear someone's feeling better." Chloe nodded excitedly and Tulio chuckled, "All right, well I'll give you a quick check up and see how you're doing. If everything looks okay, you'll be set to go." Chloe stood there patiently as the doctor examined her head and asked her questions. He had her fly around the room to see if she could fly without getting dizzy, which she could. After about five minutes he finally declared that she'd be fine as long as she was careful when flying.

When the doctor left, Nico turned to Chloe with a grin, "Well then, you ready to go?"

Chloe nodded and said, "Yeah, where are we gonna go first? The beach? The forest? The Christ statue? There's so many places to go! I think we should start in the city! What do you think?"

Nico just stared at her with a blank expression and said in a questioning tone, "Sure…?"

"Great! Let's go!" Chloe exclaimed, flying into the air and out of the room, leaving the boys behind.

Rafael chuckled a little at Nico's expression and teased, "She's a keeper."

Nico glared at him and without saying a word, he flew after her.

* * *

Over the past hour and a half, Nico, Pedro, and Rafael had showed Chloe most of the city. Throughout the 'tour' she had been carefully looking out for any signs of her brother, with no such luck. They finally decided to take a break at a Café to get some late lunch. As they sat on top of the roof of the Café, they quietly talked and ate cookies and donuts.

After a moment of silence, Rafael turned to Chloe and asked, "So how long have you been looking for your brother?"

Chloe's eyes immediately went distant as thoughts of her brother entered her mind. "Two years." She said quietly. Rafael, Pedro, and Nico fell silent, not sure what to say. What are you suppose to say to a girl you just met who has lost their sibling? Chloe fiddled with her sweatshirt sleeve before she noticed their fallen expressions and smiled, "It's okay though; I'll find him."

"Yeah girlie! You just gotta keep your head up!" Pedro sang out through his mouthful of donut.

"Oh oh." Nico joined in with a smile.

"So you can let your hair down."

"Eh eh."

Chloe and Rafael looked at the pair and laughed. The canary looked up at the toucan and asked, "Do they burst into song often?"

Rafael chuckled, "It's becoming more frequent."

"We do it because we're awesome!" Pedro exclaimed.

Chloe raised an eyebrow, "Oh you are?"

"You know it!" Nico winked causing Chloe to giggle lightly and look away. Nico smiled but it quickly faded when his eyes landed on a Red-Tailed Hawk that was perched on the roof of a building across the street. Nico noticed this hawk a while ago, even when they were flying around the city, but never said anything. The hawk always had his eyes glued on either him or Chloe and Nico was beginning to get a little uncomfortable. "Uh Raffy?"

"Hmm?" The toucan mumbled as he chewed on an oversized cookie.

"Do you know that bird over there?" The canary discreetly pointed over to the hawk and Rafael shook his head.

"I've never seen him before in my life."

Nico furrowed his brows in confusion. "He's been following us all day and he's starting to creep me out."

Rafael thought for a moment and finally replied, "Well I'll go and talk to him; see what his deal is." The toucan was about to fly towards the hawk but he was already gone, flying in a different direction. Rafael slumped and sat back down, "Nevermind."

Chloe stared at the hawk as he flew away. She couldn't help but feel like she'd seen him before. She just couldn't think of where. A few tiny snaps of images played in her mind, but from when and what was going on, she couldn't remember. As soon as they had appeared, they vanished.

"Hey, you okay?" Nico's concerned voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." She nodded.

"You sure?"

She giggled again and gave Nico her most honest smile, "I promise I'm fine."

Nico smiled crookedly, "Good."

"Should we continue our tour?" Chloe asked, eating the last bit of her donut.

Pedro tried to shove the rest of his cookie in his mouth, "Iwanuaha!"

Nico and Chloe chuckled as Rafael said, "What?"

Pedro swallowed hard and belched loudly, earning another giggle from Chloe, and exclaimed, "Let's go!"

* * *

Cameron nervously walked down the tunnel, anxiously wondering why he had been summoned. He entered the large bunker that held his boss and about five other birds. His boss, a Spotted Harrier, looked down at Cameron, noticing his nervous look, he asked with a smirk, "You look nervous."

Cameron swallowed and stood up straighter, wiping his sweaty wings on his chest feathers. "I'm not nervous. Who said I was nervous? I'm just…excited…yeah…" His eyes shifted awkwardly as his boss shook his head with a smile.

"Don't worry; you're not in trouble."

Cameron visibly relaxed and smiled, "That makes me feel better. Whatcha need boss?"

The Harrier took a deep breath and said, "We just got some information on some suspicious activity in Rio de Janeiro; we're going to need to head over there immediately."

Cameron's head snapped up to his boss and he asked, "We're leaving Sao Paulo? Why? What's happening in Rio?"

"We talked about this yesterday…" The Harrier deadpanned.

"But I thought that was just a minor setback, I didn't think we'd actually have to go over there!" Cameron gaped as his boss walked around him.

"Well you thought wrong. Pack your bags. We leave at dawn." With that, the Harrier left the room, leaving Cameron dumbfounded.

"Wow. I guess this is more serious than I had predicted." Cameron said aloud.

"Oh it's serious all right." A Long-tailed Hawk said quietly, "We may just be in way over our heads."

* * *

As they flew over the city, Chloe couldn't help but feel breath taken by the scenery. Rio was so much more beautiful than any other city she'd been in before. Not only did it look great but the people were great as well. Everyone was generous, humans and animals. Chloe glanced over at Nico to find he was already looking at her. He smiled softly and looked away. Just that simple gesture was enough to create a strange sensation in her chest. She shrugged it off, however, and focused on flying straight.

"WATCH OUT!"

As she turned her head, a flash of yellow feathers overcame her view and before she knew it she was falling. Chloe had no idea what had happened but something hard smacked the side of her face, causing pools of tears to form in her eyes. She suddenly hit something…soft? She looked down to see that she was on Rafael's back. He must've caught her.

"You okay?" The toucan asked in concern. Chloe nodded and looked up to see Nico and Pedro fluttering down to a lump of yellow feathers on the sidewalk. Chloe gasped and scrambled off Rafael's back, running over to the bird only to find that it was…

"Amanda?"

The female canary stood up and dusted herself off. "Well, someone needs to learn how to fly." She shot Chloe a dirty look causing her to look away in embarrassment.

Nico sighed, "Amanda what are you doing here?"

She smirked and stepped closer to him, "Looking for you."

Nico coughed awkwardly and stepped back, "Well looks like you found me. What do you want?"

"I actually wanted to talk to you about our date tomorrow night."

"Since when did we agree it'd be tomorrow night!?"

"Doesn't matter. We're having it tomorrow night." Amanda crossed her wings and raised an eyebrow at him, "Why? Are you busy?" Chloe noticed the glare that was sent her direction and turned away awkwardly.

"So what if I am!" Nico growled.

"Excuse me?"

Nico sighed heavily and said grimly, "Fine, what time?"

Amanda immediately piped up and said with a satisfied smile, "Be at my hollow at seven."

Nico inwardly groaned, "Fine."

Amanda swept past him, but not before purring in his ear, "Can't wait." Nico shuddered in disgust as he watched her fly away. He turned and noticed Rafael staring at him as if he were insane.

"You're going on a date with her?"

Nico rolled his eyes, "It's not like I have a choice."

"Why?" Rafael asked.

"I'll tell you about it later." Nico grumbled, clearly unhappy with the fact that he was being forced to go on a date with Amanda. He shook his head and walked over to Chloe. "So is there anything you wanna see or anywhere you wanna go to look for your brother?"

Chloe thought for a moment and shrugged, "I don't know. I'd like to look around the forest but we can wait till tomorrow since it's getting late. Oh! I just thought of something! Where am I going to stay tonight?"

Rafael smiled, "You can stay at my hollow. At least for now that is. It may require some sweet talking to my wife but I can do it."

Chloe smiled, "Okay. So what should we do until then?"

"Let's go to The Branch!" Pedro chimed in.

"I'm down with that!" Nico smiled excitedly.

Chloe raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is that that club you were talking about? We should definitely go!"

Rafael nodded, "Okay then, to The Branch!"

* * *

**Me: So what'd you guys think of this? Good? Not good? Gotta tell us in some reviews! Haha Thanks for reading and just wait for the next chapter! It'll be so great! I'll refrain from saying to much...:) **


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay guys, this chapter is totes EPIC! I'm so excited! Dahhhh I just might die of excitement! Okay okay, I'm calm Lol 1) I donated blood yesterday so I've been kinda "meh" the past 18 hours Haha And 2) I have midterms this coming week so thankfully I got this chapter written for ya'll so I could send it before exams! Otherwise it'd be another week… SO sorry it has taken this long at all! But I've been successful in doing well in school as a result, so I'd say it was worth it :P Hehehe Anywho, next chapter will be written by my favorite Co-Author, so stay tuned! Things are about to heat up ;) Later!**

**~EmK/EmmerzK**

**Me: All right! Can I just say that this chapter is SO good! You guys are gonna love it! Things are definitely heating up...next chapter's gonna be totally insane! Haha enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Rafael led the way into The Branch, Pedro chattering excitedly between the canaries that closely followed. The cardinal almost immediately disappeared in the crowd, dashing off to the dance floor where birds were soon heard chanting his name over and over.

Nico looked over to Chloe, laughing at her wide-eyed expression and open beak. Reaching up, he gently pushed her beak closed, catching her attention, and asked, "I take it you like?"

Chloe giggled, looking around again, "I think that would be a gross understatement."

Nico smiled, still watching her as her beautiful blue-grey eyes drifted across the club. Suddenly he snapped his head forward with a slight shake of his head. _What was that?!_

Rafael snickered under his breath, having noticed Nico's little stare, but he didn't say anything. At least not yet.

"So you perform here?" Chloe asked suddenly, turning her attention back to Nico.

He smiled, pushing his bottlecap off his forehead a bit, "Yeah, Pedro and I are the headliners. We perform in here all the time."

Just then, a young finch approached them, smiling sweetly at Nico. "Hi Nico! Me and the girls were wondering if you guys were performing at all today?" she asked.

Nico smiled and looked around for Pedro; his cardinal friend had just walked off the dance floor, and he was able to catch his eye. The canary nodded to the currently empty stage with a questioning glance and Pedro quickly nodded, then flew off to ready the DJ.

Nico turned back to the finch with a smile, "Give me five minutes."

"Yes!" She crowed, flapping back to her group of friends in excitement.

Rafael chuckled at Nico steadily shaking his head; Chloe looked at them curiously, "What? Don't like the popularity?"

"Are you kidding?!" Nico asked incredulously. "This is my life, but sometimes girls are just a lil too…" He paused, unsure how to put it without saying anything offensive.

Rafael took over, "If he let every girl melt into his wings like they'd want, he'd never have free-time. He'd be taking girls on dates left and right."

"Exactly." Nico sighed as Chloe nodded with a smile.

"I see."

"Well, Imma go see what Pedro's readying. Enjoy the performance." Nico started walking away, but not before tipping his cap to Chloe and shooting her a smooth wink.

As he flew away, Chloe giggled to Rafael, "You know, for not liking girls all that much, he certainly is a flirt."

"Yes, he certainly can be, but only when he wants to. He only flirts with the girls worth flirting with." Rafael said carefully, trying to not give Chloe the wrong impression. He certainly didn't want the girl to think Nico had a massive crush on her when even he didn't know that information yet.

Chloe nodded in agreement, "Smart guy."

Rafael smiled, thankful she didn't take his statement the wrong way. Then he hopped forward, "Come on, let's get closer to the stage! You're not going to want to miss this!"

Rafael managed to lead her to the stage in a matter of seconds since most birds moved out of the Toucan's way out of respect, as he was so influential, knew everyone, and was the King of Carnival.

Excited chatter began to fill the club as the music died down and the prospect of Nico and Pedro's performance beginning at any second. Chloe looked around the club some more to pass the time, but soon the lights were dimming.

When the club was dark enough, the DJ pressed some buttons on his board, amping up the music. A single light sifted through the crowd until it shot to center stage where Nico stood, bottlecap cocked forward on his head and a vixen smirk on his face.

_Turn up the music, cause this song just came on  
Turn up the music, if they try to turn us down  
Turn up the music, can I hear it til the speakers blow  
Turn up the music, fill your cup and drink it down_

Pedro slid out from somewhere behind Nico, joining his yellow friend in the lyrics. Both threw their wings over their heads at the right times, pumping up the crowd. Chloe was at a loss for words; she had no idea they would sound _this_ good!

If you're sexy and you know it put your hands up in the  
air  
Put your hands up in the air, girl, put your hands up  
If you're sexy and you know it put your hands up in the  
air  
Put your hands up in the air, girl, put your hands up

Turn up the music, just turn it up louder  
Turn up the music, I need it in my life, yeah  
Turn up the music, just turn it up louder  
Turn up the music, I need it in my life, yeah

Rapid blinking lights flashed throughout the club, especially the stage as Nico and Pedro danced through the chorus with signature moves. Chloe grinned at all the partying birds around her, tapping her foot to the beat.

Oh, oh, oh, oh  
Turn up the music  
Oh, oh, oh, oh  
Turn up the music

Turn up the music

Tu-turn up the...

The lights stopped suddenly with one landing brightly on Nico again, Pedro giving high fives to some in the crowd, Chloe included. Her eyes widened in amazement as Nico sang the second verse with more passion and excitement than she thought possible.

Turn up the music cause the sun just came up  
Turn up the music, if they try to turn us down  
Turn up the music, cause I'm trying to hear the  
speakers blow  
Turn up the music, fill your cup and drink it down

If you're sexy and you know it put your hands up in the  
air  
Put your hands up in the air, girl, put your hands up  
If you're sexy and you know it put your hands up in the  
air  
Put your hands up in the air, girl, put your hands up

Chloe and even Rafael joined in raising their wings and cheering with everyone in the crowd.

And Turn up the music, just turn it up louder  
Turn up the music, I need it in my life, yeah  
Turn up the music, just turn it up louder  
Turn up the music, I need it in my life, yeah

Oh, oh, oh, oh  
Turn up the music  
Oh, oh, oh, oh

The blinking lights stopped again when Nico and Pedro traded lines for the reprise, but a darkened glow still took over the club.

Save my life (just dance with me) all I wanna do is party  
So DJ turn it up  
Girl, dance with me, just dance with me  
Girl can I see that, I really wanna touch that  
Maybe can I beat that (don't stop the)  
Turn it up (just dance with me)  
Turn it up (just dance with me)  
Turn it up (just dance with me)  
Turn it up (just dance with me)  
Turn it up (just dance with me)  
Turn it up (just dance with me)  
Turn it up (just dance with me)  
Turn it up

Chloe laughed a little, again surprised at Nico's amazing singing skills and Pedro's incredibly agile dancing. The lights flashed again after the chorus, and then, Nico, Pedro and some instrumentalists clapped loudly for the signoff. Soon enough, the crowd joined in, cheering ecstatically long before it was over.

Turn up the music (Eeee!), just turn it up louder (Whoo!)  
Turn up the music, I need it in my life, yeah  
Turn up the music, just turn it up louder  
Turn up the music, I need it in my life, yeah

Oh, oh, oh, oh  
Can you turn it up, girl  
Oh, oh, oh, oh  
Can you turn it up, baby

Turn it up (just dance with me)  
Turn it up (just dance with me)  
Turn it up (just dance with me)  
Turn it up (just dance with me)  
Turn it up (just dance with me)  
Turn it up (just dance with me)  
Turn it up (just dance with me)  
Turn it up

Turn up the music

All the lights turned off momentarily except a single flood light backstage. Nico and Pedro posed side by side, their silhouettes visible in the darkness like moonlight, and Nico's bottlecap glinting brightly. The cheering was so loud, Chloe almost had to cover her ears, but she too was too occupied with jumping up and down, practically screaming her brains out. Rafael, too, clapped loudly beside her and even whooped a little.

The lights gradually turned back on and the boys bowed, and then flew off the stage to rejoin Chloe and Rafael. When they landed, Chloe was still bouncing with energy.

"Oh my gosh, that was _amazing_!"

"Thanks!" they grinned, but sighed simultaneously, Pedro's tongue hanging out of his mouth a little bit.

"Tired?" Rafael chuckled.

Nico shrugged, "Just a lil. You've no idea how long it took to perfect that one."

"How long?" Chloe teased, eyebrow raised.

Nico smirked, "Long enough."

Pedro and Rafael shared a look and smirk without the two flirting canaries noticing, although when Nico looked over, he raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Pedro snickered lightly, but Nico quickly and promptly kicked him.

"OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?"

"Stop makin fun of me!"

"Who said I was makin fun of you!" Pedro jerked his wings out, "I didn't say nuthin!"

"Yeah well you were thinkin it!"

"Since when are you a psychic!?"

"Since right now!"

Chloe looked back and forth, along with many other birds, through the argument before finally looking up in fear at Rafael. The Toucan shrugged with a knowing smile, "It'll pass. Just give it another ten seconds…" Rafael then began to count down on his flight feathers.

"You can't just decide when you wanna be a psychic or not!"

"Yes I can!" Nico countered, crossing his wings.

"No you can't!"

"I JUST DID!"

"Doesn't count! You gotta be born with such instincts!"

"Instincts!?" Nico exclaimed with wide eyes. "Being a psychic isn't an instinct! It's a gift!"

"Well why haven't you used it before!? Like the time I stole your bottlecap and hid it from you! And it took you six hours to find it! Why didn't you use it then, huh!?" Pedro asked in a high pitch, waving his wings around like crazy. Rafael had three flight feathers down…

"CUZ I WANTED TO PRESERVE SUCH TALENT FOR A LATER DATE!" Nico yelled, making Chloe wince. The canary certainly had some lungs.

Pedro suddenly snorted, "Preserve it? What, like dinosaur bones?" Then he busted out laughing, "Man, that's retarded!"

Nico suddenly joined him, "Yeah, that's pretty stupid."

Chloe raised one eyebrow and stared up at Rafael as the boys both laughed more. He merely shook his head, "This happens at least once a day."

"Every day? Wow, I thought I was spastic." Chloe mused, looking back at the boys. After a few more seconds of their chuckling, she asked, "Alright ladies, you done?"

They stopped laughing immediately, Pedro gasping _very_ loudly and Nico falling backwards, pretending to pass out. Chloe jumped back a step, "What?" Then she cautiously approached Nico to check on him.

Nico crossed his wings and glared at her, "One more birds calls us girls, we're gonna flip out."

"Sor-" Chloe started to apologize, but Pedro cut her off in a tirade.

"Yeah, we don't whine or cry or squeal or giggle or wear makeup or flirt with guys!"

Nico snorted, "ESPECIALLY that last one."

"Paha! Yeah dude, how awkward would that be?" Pedro snickered.

"Stop talkin man." Nico gave him a look as he sat up. Chloe offered him a wing, which he gratefully took and she pulled him off the floor.

By now more music started playing and the crowd had gone back to dancing and talking amongst themselves.

"Now what?" Pedro asked.

"Well, we could hang out here for a while or we could fly around-" Rafael started, but stopped at Chloe's tired expression. "Or we could go home?" He hinted.

Chloe breathed a laugh, "Yeah, I feel like I'm about to wipe out."

"Don't do that; wouldn't want those feathers to get dirty." Nico shrugged his eyebrows with a smirk.

Chloe blushed under her feathers, but hid it well. "Oh stop it you."

The three guys chuckled at the exchange; by now, Pedro and Rafael were really starting to think Nico had a thing for Chloe. Or was starting to anyway.

"Well, let's go then!" Rafael smiled, flapping into the air.

The two canaries and cardinal followed him out of the crowded club and into the evening air. Once outside, Chloe inhaled the crisp air deeply, not realizing how stuffy it had been in the club. When she opened her eyes again, she gasped in surprise. "Wow…"

"Beautiful isn't it?" Rafael asked, glancing up at her.

The sun was just tucking itself under the horizon, sending a variety of hues across the sky—bright oranges, soft pinks, and deep reds. The other end of the sky held a deep violet, giving the sky such a sharp contrast that nearly took her breath away.

The only thing Chloe could add was, "Wow."

The three guys laughed, enjoying her speechlessness. "Tourists," Pedro snickered.

The flight to the forest didn't take too long and soon the four birds were weaving through trees and vines. Chloe inhaled the air again deeply when they flew over some flowers. She sighed, not remembering when the last time was that she had a day as good as this one.

"Here we are!" Rafael suddenly smiled, swooping up to a large tree with a huge hole in it. He fluttered inside and his three friends landed on the outside rim, looking inside.

"Y-you sure you wanna stay here girl? All night?" Pedro asked nervously, glancing around.

"Well…" Chloe started in confusion. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Cuz of them." Nico murmured tensely.

Chloe looked forward just as a loud ruckus of children's voices erupted from the next room. "PAPA! PAPA! PAPA!"

Rafael, who had been talking to his mate Eva, was suddenly tackled to the floor painfully by his sixteen chicks. "Whoa! Hola my children!"

"KIDS! OFF TO BED! NOW!" Eva erupted, pointing stiffly to their bedroom.

All the kids jumped or squealed in fear, zipping back to their room before the King of Carnival could say Samba. Silence overtook the hollow once again. That is until Eva whirled on her mate.

"Why are you so late!? I just put them to bed and you come in and practically pull them out!"

"Eva, baby please, they just got excited is all. No harm done." Rafael kissed her wing lovingly.

"Ha!" She pulled her wing away. "Now what were you talking about before we were rudely interrupted?"

"We have a visitor." Rafael gestured to Chloe, still standing patiently between the two boys.

"Ohhh no!" Eva growled menacingly. "Those two aren't staying in my hollow again! OUT!" Just as she was about to lunge at the boys, who both yelped and cowered behind Chloe, Rafael grabbed her wing and pulled her back.

"No, my love, not them! The girl!"

Eva stopped instantly and stared at Chloe for a moment. Then she…Nico and Pedro gaped… _smiled_. Then she turned to Rafael, "You brought a girl to stay?! How did you know that I've been wanting some girl time!?" she asked in a high-pitch voice before pulling Rafael into a tight, bone-crushing hug.

Rafael, his eyes just as wide as the boys', said in quite a believable voice, "I know what my baby needs to be happy. Need I say more?"

"D'awww you…" Eva pulled back just after Rafael wiped the bewildered expression off his face. After giving him a short, loving peck on the cheek, she turned around and gestured Chloe in. "Come in, come in!"

Chloe smiled sheepishly, hopping down, but looked up at the boys. "Not you two," Eva added, pointing dangerously at them.

"Haha, we ain't comin' in their Mrs. Toucan! Noooo worries!" Pedro chuckled nervously, "We'd like to survive the night."

Nico sharply elbowed him, "Shutup!"

"Ow, that hurt!"

"Shhh!"

"No, you SHHH!"

Rafael promptly cleared his throat, waving wildly behind his mate, who was staring cold, black daggers at them.

Nico cleared his throat with a nervous chuckle, "Well, we'll get out of your feathers now. See ya tomorrow Chloe! Bye Raf!"

After a short wink, he disappeared from the hollow door. Pedro waved, unable to find his voice, and just as quickly followed after his friend.

Chloe smiled at Rafael's dramatic sigh, trying to hold in a laugh at the spectacle. Eva gave him a wry look, "Pesky babushkas."

"Pesky?" Rafael repeated. "Maybe a tad annoying, but pesky?"

"What's the difference?" Eva asked in a warning tone with her eyes narrowed.

Rafael cleared his throat and stepped over to the green-sweatshirt wearing canary, "Eva, my love, this is Chloe. She's just staying in Rio for a few days to look for her missing brother."

Eva instantly perked up, "Oh good! Dearest, you stay here as long as you like, okay?"

Chloe smiled, "Thank you very much."

Rafael grinned, "I'll go find a spare nest." With that, he went off in search of a nest for Chloe as the girls began chit-chatting. Rafael returned five minutes later with a nest and got whatever else Chloe might need while the girls talked. Finally, he settled in his and Eva's nest, silently watching the females' exchange. He started dozing off after thirty minutes. After an hour, he opened his tired eyes with a slight hum.

_Wow, Nico and Pedro are right,_ he thought. _Girls just don't stop talking._

**Xxx**

"She's looks just like Uncle Nico!"

"Well durr, that's cuz she's a yellow canary, dummy!"

"Hey, don't call names!"

"Would you guys just shutup!"

Silence took over the room again and Chloe thought for a moment she had just dreamt the dialogue. That was before it started up again.

"I think she's really pretty."

"For you or Uncle Nico?"

"No, I'm going to date and marry a bird that doesn't look anything like me and is probably twenty years older than me! Great idea, smart one!"

"Why are you so mean, Carlos?"

"Why are you so dumb, Sophia?"

Chloe finally rolled over, unable to keep silent anymore, "Alright, be nice."

The Toucan chicks yelped and scattered, all flying outside the hollow in seconds. "Wait!" she called as she sat up. Then she shrugged, "I wasn't gonna yell at you…"

Just then Rafael landed in the hollow door and smiled at her when he saw she was awake, "Morning! How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty good until I got woken up by a bunch of chicks talking about how pretty I am," Chloe smirked.

"Yes, they seem to have gotten my charm." Rafael chuckled. "Sorry they woke you up."

"It's okay. By the looks of the sun, I should've been up looking for Cameron hours ago. Guess the warmth of an actual hollow made me sleep longer." Chloe smiled as she looked around outside and stretched.

Rafael paused, and then asked, "How long have you been looking for him?"

Chloe drooped, "Two years…" After a few seconds of quiet, she added in a half-sad, half-bitter tone, "There were some birds who helped me look for him after we got separated, but after a while they stopped. They kept telling me that he was gone forever. I got so sick of it that I just left." She smiled up at him warily, shrugging slightly, "What kinds of friends lose their faith in you and your brother? Figured not any worth keeping."

Rafael nodded, taking in the information like a sponge. _So she really has been on her own for two years…_ he thought sadly.

"Well we'll help you as much as we possibly can here." He smiled graciously.

"Thanks." Looking at Eva and some of the chicks outside, she asked, "So what're you guys going to do today?"

"Well Eva and I were going to head down to the beach with the kids. They've been nagging us for days." Rafael chuckled. "Nico and Pedro are going to meet us down there to help you look around for Cameron, and then you can meet up with us later."

"Sweet!" Chloe grinned, taking off. "Let's go then!"

**Xxx**

An hour later, all eighteen Toucans, two canaries, and cardinal were at the beach, the adult birds watching in amusement as the kids chased Pedro through the waves while he screamed bloody murder for someone to help him.

"Aren't you gonna help him?" Chloe asked Nico.

"Nah, he can handle it." Nico said flatly. "Three of those kids tackled me to the ground one time and literally knocked the wind out of me and almost crushed my ribs. Pedro's a bit more… ahh, _robust_ than I am, so therefore can handle the pain."

"Yeah, maybe from one to three of 'em, but _sixteen_?" Chloe asked incredulously.

Just then Pedro was tackled and was soon buried under a pile of black feathers and orange beaks. The only thing left to be seen of him was his tail feathers protruding from the top of the pile. Then one of the kids decided to grab said tail and give it a good _yank_.

"AHHHH!" Pedro screamed, somehow throwing all the kids off of him, flapping away and nearly tackling Nico to the ground in his wake. "SAVE ME NICO!"

"Relax-"

"THEY'RE TRYIN TO DESTROY MY FEATHERS NECESSARY FOR FLIGHT NICO! SO THEN I CAN'T GET AWAY AND THEY'LL KILL ME!

Nico suddenly turned and slapped him in the face, shocking everyone there! Then he rubbed his ear, "Dude, you're gonna make me go deaf!" Then the canary laughed at Pedro's shocked face, "Oh man, I cannot believe I just slapped you in the face."

Pedro suddenly donned a mischievous look and pretended to crack his knuckles, "Oh, it's on." Then he picked Nico clean up off the ground, held him high above his head and walked over to the Toucan chicks, who were currently playing war.

Nico screamed and squirmed, "NO! PUT ME DOWN! CHLOE HELP ME!"

Chloe laughed, but ran after them, grabbing Nico's wings and trying to pull him down.

"Here ya go, kids! Your lil snack for the hour!" Pedro exclaimed, holding the yellow treat up for the kids to see. They gasped and cheered, running or flying towards him immediately.

But, in their wake, Pedro became afraid; he started to walk backwards, but tripped over Chloe, who had in turn been trying to pull Nico down. Chloe squealed, diving out of the way; Pedro dropped Nico, who rolled down his friends back, as the cardinal fell, and fell flat on top of Chloe!

"Ugh," Nico moaned, sitting up, not realizing where he was. He only knew he was almost sacrificed by his best friend, and then was dropped by his best friend.

"Why hello there," a female voice interrupted his thoughts.

Nico finally realized he was practically pinning Chloe down in the sand, his wings on her shoulders and partly lying on her chest. His face turned beat red and he muttered, "Well this is awkward."

"Yeah. Wanna get off me?" Chloe asked, the pitch in her voice rising just a little from embarrassment.

Nico immediately scrambled up, but pulled her out of the sand as he did. As soon as they were standing, he walked over to retrieve his bottlecap from the sand a few inches away, mostly to hide his flushed face from her. Putting his bottlecap on his head, he suddenly wished it was a mask.

Pedro suddenly snickered from nearby. Nico's gaze snapped to him so fast, Pedro shut his beak and backed away. Chloe quickly intervened before Nico could strangle his friend, grabbing his wing, "You might wanna run, Pedro."

"Gladly!" The Cardinal immediately took off, surprisingly back to the kids who were now bothering their parents.

Chloe let go of Nico's wing and smiled, "Relax, it was just an accident."

Nico's eyes met hers for a nanosecond before he looked away again, "Yeah but you don't have them to never let you live it down."

Chloe giggled; no matter what mood he was in, he would never cease to be cute in her eyes. Encouraged, he smiled back at her, "Alright, ready to go look around?"

"Yeah," she mused, looking behind her at the vast city. "But it's so big…"

"It's okay. We'll take it section at a time." Nico smiled as he went to get Pedro. "Hey man, you ready to head out?"

Pedro, being squished under four toucan chicks, moaned, "Yep."

Rafael smiled, "Alright kids, off Uncle Pedro. They've got to go."

"Awww…" The chicks sighed. "But they always have to leave!" One of the boys whined sadly.

Nico almost felt bad for them with their saddened faces. That was until he felt somebody's presence right behind him and, turning to glance over his shoulder, he yelped and dodged behind Chloe.

"What?"

"Him!"

There stood one of the youngest Toucan boys, smiling innocently with big brown eyes. "Aww, come on, what could he do?" Chloe asked incredulously.

Rafael, Pedro and Nico all simultaneously scoffed, the latter muttering, "Wait till he rips out your feathers."

"Speakin o' which, we better go before we get massacred. I don't like how he's lookin' at me." Pedro said, backing away.

Just as the chick pounced forward, the two canaries and cardinal zoomed into the air. The chick tried to follow, but Rafael grabbed his tail feathers, effectively holding him back. To his fleeing friends, he called, "I'll catch up with you guys later! Good luck!"

"Thanks! See ya, Raf!" they called behind them, heading toward the city.

**Xxx**

The mysterious Red-Tailed Hawk and his employer, an Ornate Hawk-Eagle, watched the three small birds flying away from the beach, the latter keeping a close eye on the girl as she flew between the two guys.

"What's the plan?" the hawk interrupted his thoughts.

The vividly colored bird stood straighter to see better which direction the three birds were turning as he said, "We need to get rid of these new friends that she has made. They will only cause problems and distractions. Once rid of them, it shouldn't be hard to get her."

"Why don't we just go get her now? We could take them out now and get her faster than waiting around!" The Hawk growled impatiently.

His employers crest suddenly rose when he exclaimed, "You will do what you're told! Just because you're head of the Raptors doesn't mean you make the calls!"

"Understood, sir," The Hawk immediately apologized.

His employer sighed, smoothing down his crest again as he regained his cool, "We need to gradually scare them away from her. Make things happen so they realize she is a bad omen to them until they ditch her. Then, we get her."

The Red-Tailed Hawk nodded, "Where would you like me to start?"

The Ornate Hawk-Eagle looked at him dubiously, "You can use your judgment on that. But do whatever it takes for Chloe to be alone. Right where I want her."

**Xxx**

Five hours later, Nico, Pedro and Chloe stopped for a rest on top of a café umbrella. So far they had searched a quarter of the city and hadn't found any trace of or heard anything from random birds about Cameron. They lay down tiredly, appreciating the rest. The sun was beginning to set, the evening sky just starting to turn a tangerine color.

Pedro rolled over and looked over the edge of the umbrella. He then disappeared for a few moments before returning with a large piece of watermelon. Sitting down contentedly, he asked, "Anybody want some?"

Chloe sat up and scooched closer, "Sure!" Pedro smiled and broke her off a piece before taking a bite himself, juice dribbling down his chin. Looking to Nico he asked, "Dontchoo want chum?"

Nico sighed, "Yeah, but I gotta go meet Amanda soon…"

Pedro suddenly coughed and spit a seed out of his beak before whipping back to his unfazed yellow friend, "Dude, don't go! You clearly don't want to-"

"What do you expect me to do? I can't just blow her off!" Nico exclaimed.

Chloe piped up, picking the seeds out of her watermelon, "He's right, Pedro. Blowing her off would just make it worse."

Nico sighed, lying down on the umbrella. "She won't leave me alone no matter what I end up doing."

"So why don't you just skip then?" Pedro asked. "If she's just gonna keep drivin you nuts either way?"

"Cuz I'm not built that way. I can't blow people off, dude; you know that."

Pedro sighed, "Man, I hate that girl." Nico nodded in solemn agreement.

"Why does she like you so much anyway?" Chloe asked Nico.

He shrugged, "I dunno… We went to school together our whole lives and she's liked me for forever. Somebody told me that she started crushing on me after the first time she heard me sing, which had to be kindergarten. So… a long time."

"Why does she even try so hard when it's obvious that you're not interested?" Chloe asked.

Again, Nico shrugged, "Beats me."

"Wait, what time is it?" Pedro asked, afraid of the answer.

Chloe looked at the setting sun's position in the sky, "It's gotta be… Wow, it's a little after seven."

"Well if you're goin dude, you might wanna go. She'll murder you if you're late." Pedro frowned.

"Yeah yeah…" Nico sighed, standing up and stretching. Looking towards the forest warily, he sighed, "Alright, I'll catch you guys later."

"Good luck! Later dude!" Chloe and Pedro waved as Nico took off towards the forest.

"Poor guy…" Pedro muttered, holding the watermelon rind.

Chloe smiled, "He'll be okay, don't worry."

**Xxx**

Butterflies of dread multiplied in Nico's stomach the closer he got to her hollow. In one sense he hoped it would go fine and he'd be worried for nothing, but in another sense he hoped it would go so bad that he wouldn't have to stay for long. But both brought dire circumstances: if it went well, she'd _really_ start chasing him around even more than she did already; if it went really really bad… well, maybe that wouldn't be as bad if it went well. But the thought of an almost violently distressed Amanda didn't sound too pleasing.

He rounded a corner and saw her hollow not far off. Landing on her small porch, he took a deep breath, sighed heavily, and knocked. Not three seconds later, the door opened.

"Hey," Amanda smiled. Nico was surprised it wasn't her usual sassy, snotty smile, but an actual, genuine smile.

"Hey…" Nico greeted, but didn't maintain eye contact. He prayed that maybe she would see how uncomfortable he was with this whole situation and let him leave, but of course, she wasn't being _that_ nice today.

"Come on in." she opened the door farther and let him walk inside.

Nico looked around her hollow, seeing a small kitchen area that most birds had in their hollows, a table for meals or other stuff with four chairs around it, and then some other chairs on the other end of the room. Her hollow was pretty neat and orderly too. And it smelled like a perfume explosion. It almost hurt his nose to breathe.

As she walked past him and snapped him out of his reverie, he asked calmly, "So what's the plan?"

Amanda stood in front of him and her regular sassy tone returned, "What, you think I made minute by minute plans on how this was going to go?"

Nico raised an eyebrow at her attitude, not responding. She sighed suddenly, looking away for a moment, so he took the opportunity to speak, "Look…" He paused with a short sigh, "Let's try to just… do this without arguing…"

Amanda smirked, "I never really argue without due reason, and you can't argue that."

"Okay, no arguing on my part and no constant over-the-top flirting on _your _part then."

"Well isn't that the point?" she asked, slightly raising an eyebrow.

Nico stepped away and walked around her in order to avoid her flirtatious gaze, "No, I actually came to just get this over with."

"Why can't you just give me a chance?" Amanda suddenly asked, turning around to face him again.

Nico paused, biting the edge of his beak, "I just… I don't think you're the gir-"

"Yeah, are you hungry?" Amanda asked suddenly, marching around him and into her kitchen.

Nico sighed, dropping the conversation. "Yeah…"

"What do you want?"

"Whatever you feel like giving me. I'm not picky."

"No seriously, I have everything; what do you want?" she pressed, leaning over the countertop.

"No seriously Amanda, just grab whatever," he smiled a tad, but tried avoiding eye contact.

Amanda paused, "Alright…" Looking at her fruit pile, she decided on an orange and cut it in half for them to share. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Amanda finally asked, "So what did you do today?"

Nico swallowed, trying to keep his comment casual, "Helped Chloe look for her brother."

Amanda's gaze turned sour, "Yes… Chloe…"

"What?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"Oh nothing…" Amanda mumbled, picking at some orange peel. "She just seems a bit weird."

"She's actually really nice." Nico commented, again trying to remain casual.

Amanda could see through him though, "_Is_ she?"

A feeling of discomfort settled in the bottom of Nico's stomach at her tone and Nico sighed silently, "Why do you care anyway?"

"About?"

"Chloe?"

"Huh, I don't care at all actually," Amanda huffed, inspecting her flight feathers.

"Oh I think you do," Nico muttered.

"The only thing I care about concerning that _girl_ is that she's…" Amanda stopped her sudden frustrated comment mid-sentence. "Nevermind. It doesn't concern us."

"Us?" Nico squeaked, then frowned, quickly clearing his throat. His heart leaped a little when he realized she had sauntered around the counter and was now leaned up against the countertop beside him.

"What's that look for?" she asked with a smile.

Nico blinked, trying to control his pounding heart. "Nothing…" He said, looking forward again.

Amanda scooched a little bit closer, trying to regain his attention, "Aw come on; talk to me."

Nico said nothing. He was sorely uncomfortable with the whole thing and really just wanted to leave.

Amanda sighed and looked away, an edge of sass in her voice, "I don't know how you expect us to make any progress if you don't ever look at or talk to me."

Nico's gaze whipped to her, "Expect progress? Since when did I ever expect any progress between us?"

She looked back at him with a slightly hurt expression, "See what I mean? You won't give me a chance!"

Nico sighed heavily and slumped into his wings. "Amanda, it wouldn't work between us-"

He was suddenly surprised when she pulled him up and pressed her beak on his. The first few seconds, he barely dared to breathe, his heart pounding harder than it ever had in his life. But then his brain suddenly registered what was going on and he quickly pulled away, taking a step back.

Amanda looked hurt to say the least. While Nico stood there panting, trying to slow down his pounding heart, she merely stared at him with an almost calm expression, but she was clearly having inner turmoil.

Finally, she asked, "Why?"

Nico stared at her for a long moment before stuttering, "W-why what?"

"What won't you love me back?"

Nico sighed in frustration, "Amanda, this has to stop. This has been going on since we were six, for feather's sake!"

"That doesn't answer my question." She growled.

"Do you really think that I'd ever date, let alone spend the rest of my life with someone like you?" Nico blurted before thinking. As soon as it passed his beak, he almost regretted it. _Almost_.

Hurt crossed her face and for a moment he thought she'd cry, and he prayed she wouldn't because girls always found his weak spot in their tears. But the hurt quickly changed to anger when she suddenly scowled, "Okay, this won't work because you won't give me a chance for stupid reasons. I suppose I can cope with that. So what would you go for?"

"I'm not telling because you'll just resort to changing how you act. It's not like you don't stalk me enough already."

"I don't stalk you!"

"You pretty much do! You show up at almost every place I go because you can't think about anything else besides me! Last I checked that fits the definition of stalking!"

"So would you go for Chloe?" Amanda suddenly asked.

Nico's expression darkened, "Would you stop involving Chloe! She has nothing to do with all this! She's just a girl who came to Rio, okay? There's nothing there! She'll be gone in a week!"

"Would you go for her?!" Amanda asked again in a louder voice.

Nico sighed in frustration, "I don't know! Maybe! But you're not going to go up to her and get all snobby with her-"

"I'll do whatever I feel like doing."

"Not if I have anything to do with it. She's a sweet girl and all she wants is to look for her missing brother, and move on to the next city if he's not here."

"That's obviously not all she's after because she's clearly stealing you!" Amanda snapped.

"You can't steal something if it isn't owned!" Nico yelled back. "I am not your boyfriend so get off it!"

Amanda lost it; before she knew what she was doing, she slapped him clean across the face. Nico paused, then turned his face back toward her with an "Oh no you didn't" look. Dread crossed her face instantly.

"Wait-" she said, but he'd already walked across the living room. She grabbed his wing, "Nico, wait! I didn't mean-"

He jerked his wing away and said in a hard voice, "No. Your chances were slim to begin with, but you can forget it now."

With that, he opened the door, closed it behind him and left, leaving Amanda standing in front of her door all alone.

He could almost feel the steam rolling out his ears, so he decided to fly above the forest alone for a while to blow off some steam. He ended up flying over the city after a while, and after a half hour of hearing nothing but the wind, he had calmed down and decided to look for Pedro and Chloe.

Swooping to the downtown area, he made his way to The Branch and flew inside. Within minutes, he had found Pedro, Chloe and Rafael sitting at a table. When his round best friend saw him walking towards them, he smiled, "Hey man! How'd it go?"

Sitting down, the canary muttered, "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Whoa, what happened to your face?" Chloe asked, pulling his chin closer to inspect it.

"Nothing." He replied a bit too quickly.

"She slapped you?!" Pedro shouted. "Alright, that's it; she goin down." He stood up, but Nico stopped him.

"Not even worth it, dude. She's hopefully understood at this point that she's not getting squat from me." Nico said tensely, trying to not let his anger boil up again.

"Why'd she slap you?" Rafael asked.

"I got too mouthy I guess."

"Why were you fighting?"

"I don't even know…"

"What were you fighting about?"

"Nothing worth mentioning."

Rafael and Pedro exchanged glances; clearly Nico did not want to talk about it. The only time he looked up from the table was with the last question, and that was a brief glance at Chloe.

Chloe opened her beak to change the subject when a male voice was suddenly heard from somewhere in the crowd, "Nico!"

Nico turned around, searching for the bird calling him. Finally a blue and green Tanager spotted him and zipped over, landing beside him, panting, "Geez, you're hard to find."

"Hey Joey, what's up?" Nico asked.

"You need to go to the Aviary Center. Now. It's your parents." Joey said quickly, still trying to catch his breath.

Nico's world seemed to slow down. The sounds of the club lessened considerably and all he could hear was Joey talking. "What happened?!" he asked, jumping up.

"We don't know, but we think someone broke in. They were both found unconscious-"

"Tell me more on the way." Nico said tensely before zipping into the air and leaving the club. Rafael, Pedro, Chloe and Joey all followed closely behind, all equally worried.

"Talk to me, Joey." Nico commanded once they got outside.

"Their neighbors went over to talk to them about something around six, but nobody opened the door after several knocks. Your parents are usually there at that time of day, so they went inside to see if it was empty, but they found the hollow in shambles and both your parents unconscious on the floor. They got some help and they were taken to the sanctuary. When I left to find you around seven, we were told that they're both fine, just shaken up; your mom was still out when I left though."

Nico clenched his beak in worry and frustration. Thankfully the aviary center wasn't too far away.

When they arrived, the window was already open. They swooped inside, carefully avoiding the few humans sitting at desks, and following Joey to where Nico's parents were being held. Nico's dad was found pacing the countertop in front of his mate's bed when they flew in.

"Dad!"

Aaron whipped around in time to see Nico landed and bolt to him, "Are you alright? What happened?"

"Relax, don't hurt yourself. We're fine." Aaron smiled lightly.

"I won't relax until you tell me what happened. No, scratch that; how's mom?" Nico asked.

Aaron sighed, "She's alright; she woke up about half an hour ago. We both have some major headaches, but we're both fine. She's asleep." He said, looking over at his sleeping mate.

Nico sighed, "So no lasting damage?"

"Thankfully no. We'll be fine." His dad smiled, lightly punching his shoulder.

"So what happened?" Nico asked again.

Aaron shrugged, looking over at his son's friends a few steps away, "We were just talking and these birds broke in. They weren't much bigger than us. I don't know what they wanted."

Nico frowned, "Dad, there's gotta be more."

"That's all I know, son. I just did my best to protect your mom, but they had me knocked out before I could say Samba." Aaron frowned.

Nico's gaze darkened as he looked away, "Alright, you guys stay here. I'll be back."

He started to turn away but Aaron grabbed his wing firmly, "Oh no, you don't. You're not going over there-"

"I am going to look for clues at your place, and you can keep me here all night if you want, but first thing tomorrow, I'm heading over there." Nico said strongly, looking his dad in the eye.

Aaron sighed, letting go of his wing. "Alright, but please be careful. If they hurt you too, your mother would go crazy."

Nico shrugged with a wistful smile, "Wouldn't be the first time."

Rafael stepped forward, speaking for the first time, "We'll go with him."

Nico smiled, "Alright, let's go then."

"Come back when you're done!" Aaron called after them.

"I will!" Nico reaffirmed over his shoulder as he left the room, Rafael, Pedro, and Chloe in tow.

**Xxx**

"Wow…" Pedro whispered when Nico opened the door to his parents' hollow.

That single word would be an understatement of describing the destruction of the hollow's interior. Glass mirrors were broken, shards scattered across the floor, nesting material torn to bits and thrown across the hollow, all dishes and personal items broken or in various odd places; even some of the doors and furniture were smashed.

Nico looked around tensely, unsure what to make of it. To Rafael standing to his left, he said, "What did they want, Raf?"

The older Toucan shook his head in bewilderment. "I'm not sure…"

"What's that?" Pedro suddenly asked, carefully blowing some of the mess and glass off something on the floor.

Nico, Rafael and Chloe walked closer to see what it was he was talking about. It was a large symbol in the wooden floor, carved there by sharp, deep talons: a large "R" with a diagonal slash going through it from the top left to bottom right.

"What could that mean?" Pedro asked.

Rafael was tense, "I think it's a warning…"

"What?" Nico looked up at him. "A warning about what!?"

"I don't know any more than you do, Nico, but most simple burglars don't leave cryptic symbols carved in the wood!" Rafael exclaimed.

"So you don't think they were 'just burglars'?" Nico asked in a calmer voice.

Rafael sighed, "I don't know what I think…" After another moment's thought, he added quietly, "But the symbol makes me feel very uncomfortable… Almost like I've seen it before…"

Pedro blinked, "Waddya mean?"

Rafael sighed, glancing at Chloe, who had been very silent as she stared at the symbol. "I don't know… Chloe, you alright?"

Her head snapped up to him, then to each of the boys, and back down at the symbol. "Yeah…" Rather abruptly, she walked back to the door, "I'm going to check on your parents, okay?" she said to Nico.

Nico's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, "…okay."

Before she could leave, Pedro jumped forward, "Hold on there, girlie. Imma goin with; you're not flyin' nowhere by yourself. Later dudes!"

Cardinal and canary were gone moments later, the flap of their beating wings dying out in the dark distance.

Nico was still staring skeptically at the spot where Chloe had been. Then he suddenly looked back down at the symbol with shifty eyes. Rafael watched him silently for a few moments before asking, "What're you thinking?"

Nico sighed through his nose, "That Chloe knows something."

"So you noticed the look on her face too then?"

"The look of confusion, recognition and maybe a slight pang of nostalgia?" Nico asked sarcastically, "Yep."

"I'm sure it's fine." Rafael said calmly, looking around the destroyed hollow again. "But better keep an eye on her just in case."

Nico sighed, "Yeah…"

Rafael watched his small friend stare down at the symbol again. Before he could ask again what the yellow bird was thinking, Nico said, "But one thing's for sure, nobody messes with my family and gets away with it." Just before walking to the door, he looked back up at Rafael with determination, "And that's a fact."

* * *

**Me: Anyone else freak out in then end there? I totes did! Hahaha seems are lovely Chloe has something to hide...hehehe! I have no idea when the next chapter will come but I can assure you guys are gonna LOVE it! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Me: Here ya go everyone! A chapter written by moi! I hope y'all love it as much as I do! Things are about to get KA-RAZY! EmmerzK wanted me to tell y'all that she highly approves of this chapter and she's so excited! ;) Well...if she's excited you know you're going to be! :D Enjoy!**

* * *

Amanda stared at the place Nico last stood. She felt absolutely dreadful. She had just lost any chances she had of being with him. _I can't believe I just did that_…She thought to herself. He was gone. And she knew he would probably never come back. She sighed heavily and turned towards her room, where she would sit and feel guilty about it for the rest of her lonely life. A small knock on the door made her stop dead in her tracks. She turned, hoping to see Nico standing there but her hope quickly turned to shock when she saw two large birds enter her hollow. The first one who entered was an Ornate Hawk-Eagle and the second one, who stood back, half behind the other bird, was a Red-Tailed Hawk. They were both staring at her with cold, dead eyes. That in and of itself made her take a step back. When she finally found her voice, she stuttered, "C-can I help you?"

"Yes. Yes you can." The Ornate Hawk-Eagle stated bluntly. "You know a yellow canary by the name of Chloe. Am I right?"

Amanda stared at him incredulously, "Maybe…"

"Yes or no."

"Yes."

"Has she mentioned that she is looking for her brother Cameron?"

Amanda eyed the Ornate Hawk-Eagle suspiciously and said, "Yeah…" The other one, the Red-Tailed Hawk, hadn't moved or said a word.

"We know where he is."

"Her brother?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that."

"But-"

"You like the other one. Am I right?" The large bird interrupted.

Amanda looked taken aback by the question. "What?"

"The other canary. With the bottle cap." The Ornate Hawk-Eagle was beginning to look impatient and started to tap his foot.

Recognition set in and her eyes widened a little, "Nico?"

"Yes."

"What about him?"

"Do you like him?"

Amanda didn't know what to say. Of course she liked Nico, maybe even loved him, but did she really want to tell these strangers about her love life? "What do you want?"

"We want to help Chloe find her brother. But we can't do that because of Nico."

"What's Nico got to do with anything?" Amanda narrowed her eyes.

"Just listen; if we can get Chloe alone, we'll be able to tell her where her brother is. But we can't have Nico or anyone else around when we do that. That's where you come in." The Ornate Hawk-Eagle shared a smirk with the Red-Tailed Hawk, making Amanda even more uncomfortable.

"What do you mean?"

"You do exactly as we say to get Chloe alone so that we can talk, and you can keep your precious Nico. And if you don't…" The bird of prey smirked wider, "We may have to permanently borrow him."

**Xxx**

Chloe let out a heavy sigh as she swept up some leftover shards of glass on the floor. It had been two days since Hannah and Aaron's hollow had been invaded and they still hadn't fully cleaned it out yet. Nico, Chloe, and Pedro were helping out as much as they could with the cleaning up the broken glass, fixing the doors and windows, and a making new nest. Hannah decided in the middle of construction that she wanted to remodel the hollow so they were also helping with that. They were all exhausted to say the least.

"Alright," Hannah slumped against her husband, wiping sweat from her forehead, "We should probably go find some stuff to make the nest out of."

Aaron nodded in agreement, "Yeah, you kids keep working here. We'll be back in a little bit."

"Whoa hold up bird!" Pedro dropped the broom that was in his hand and walked over to them, "I'm coming with! I need some fresh air."

Hannah looked at Nico and Chloe and asked, "Are you two okay with staying here?"

The young canaries made awkward eye contact and quickly looked away, making Pedro and Aaron smirk. By now everyone could pretty much see the chemistry between the two canaries, and they found it quite amusing. Nico coughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh yeah…"

After they left, Nico and Chloe stood in silence, not knowing what to say. Finally Nico said, "So…yeah this is awkward."

Chloe giggled into her shoulder and he asked, "What?"

"Nothing… you're just funny."

"Oh I'm funny?" She giggled again and nodded. He chuckled, "I didn't say anything funny."

"It's not what you said, it's how you act." She looked at him with a soft smile.

He stared at her confused and shook his head, "I'm not following…"

Chloe smiled and took the broom from his wings, "Maybe that's why you're so funny."

"You're confusing me."

"I know." She grinned as she began to sweep again. Nico watched her for a few moments but quickly looked away when he realized he was staring.

He looked around and suddenly had an idea. Glancing over at Chloe, who was concentrating on sweeping, he said, "You know, this might be more fun with some singing?"

Chloe looked at him and shook her head, "Oh I don't sing…"

Nico suddenly donned a mischievous smirk and slid over to her. Taking his bottle cap off, he flipped it over his head and spun around. The bottle cap came down and landed on his head and he tilted it slightly, "Can you dance?"

Chloe avoided eye contact, "Only a little…but I'm not going to."

Nico slumped, "Oh."

She smiled a little, "Why? Can you dance?"

Nico shrugged, "Not really…"

"Liar!" Chloe declared, "I saw the way you were dancing on stage."

Nico's eyes shifted a little and he whispered, "I thought we were talking about slow dancing…"

Chloe tilted her head a little and asked, "You don't know how to slow dance?"

He shrugged with a smile, "Maybe you can teach me sometime?"

Chloe looked away and grinned, "Maybe."

Nico smiled and scooted closer to her, "So can I ask you a question?"

"Is asking if you can ask me a question the question?"

"No, why would I ask to ask you a question knowing that what I asked you was already asked?"

"Is that your question?"

"No!" Nico and Chloe shared a laugh and he added, "It's about that symbol that was carved on the floor over there." Nico pointed to the spot where the large "R" was faintly showing through the wood.

Chloe immediately got uncomfortable and she moved away from Nico. "What about it?" She asked, carefully avoiding eye contact.

Nico noticed this but decided not to say anything. Instead he casually asked, "What are your thoughts on it?" She just shrugged and kept her head down. "Chloe?" Her eyes locked with his but before Nico could say anything, Pedro came stomping through the door with a big pile of leaves and twigs in his wings.

"Phew! This is way too exhausting!" He panted as he walked over to where Nico was standing, "Here, catch!" Nico barely had time to react before Pedro threw the pile at him.

"Whoa!" The canary exclaimed as he tumbled over. Peeking out from under the pile, Nico glared at his friend, "What was that for?"

"I got tired of carrying it!"

"That doesn't mean you can just throw it at me-"

"Oh like you had anything better to do with your time than to catch a pile of sticks!"

Here we go again. Chloe rolled her eyes at the fighting duo.

"Are you kidding me right now? I have plenty of other things I could have been doing!" Nico sat up and looked for his bottle cap. When he found it and placed it back upon his head defiantly, he added, "I was talking to Chloe when you so rudely interrupted."

"I'm sorry my pile of sticks interrupted your flirting." Pedro smirked.

"GAH!" Nico lunged at the cardinal, tackling him into the messy pile of sticks and leaves.

Chloe watched in amusement as they wrestled on the floor. Nico's bottle cap rolled off his head during the tussle and ended up by her feet. She picked it up just as Hannah and Aaron entered the hollow. Aaron immediately started laughing at the two friends but Hannah dropped her pile of twigs and ran over to assist her son. She was able to pull Pedro off Nico's back and she ran over to her son, giving him a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh my poor baby! Are you okay?"

Nico pushed himself away from his mother and stole a quick glance at Chloe, who was giggling into her shoulder. He blushed and turned back to his mother and frowned, "Mooooom!"

Hannah looked between Nico and Chloe and immediately felt bad for embarrassing him, "Oh sorry! I forgot your girlfriend was-"

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"Oh right…" Hannah smiled sheepishly at Chloe, who giggled again and handed Nico his bottle cap.

"Thanks." He gave her an uncomfortable smile and placed the bottle cap on his head.

Hannah sighed as she looked around. Aside from remaking the nests and fixing the windows and doors, the rest of the hollow was clean. "Alright, you kids have done enough. Why don't you go out and do something; we can take it from here."

"Are you sure?" Nico asked, but Pedro was already out the door.

"FREEDOM!"

Everyone laughed and Hannah nodded, "Yeah, go have some fun!"

Nico smiled and gave his parents a hug, "Thanks guys."

Chloe also gave them a hug, to Nico's surprise, and said, "Yeah, if you need anything at all, I'm here to help."

Hannah smiled, "Thank you sweetheart." Chloe turned and headed towards the door and Hannah leaned towards Nico and whispered, "I like her."

"So do I," He said under his breath and though it was barely audible, Hannah still heard it. With a smile, she gently pushed her son towards Chloe, making him accidentally, bump into her.

"Oh s-sorry…" He blushed and glared at his mother, who blew him a kiss.

Chloe smiled and grabbed Nico's wing, pulling him out the door, "Come on…let's go find Pedro."

**xxx**

Nico and Chloe landed on the outside branch of Rafael and Eva's hollow. They knew Pedro must've been here because he wasn't at The Branch and there wasn't any other place he'd be. Nico tapped on the door and called, "Yo Pedro? Raffy? You in there?" There was a small noise before the door opened to reveal a cute toucan by the name of Maddie, standing there with a smile. "Hello Tio Nico!"

"Hey cutie! Your dad home?" He winked. She nodded and opened the door wider so that they could come in. Nico and Chloe walked into the hollow and immediately saw Pedro being tackled by four or five toucans.

"They sure do love him don't they?" Chloe giggled.

Nico nodded, "Thanks goodness it's him and not me!"

"Yes, be thankful for that." The canaries turned to see Rafael standing behind with an amused smirk on his beak. After a few moments of watching Pedro get pummeled by his children, he finally said, "Alright you kids get off of him. Your mother will be home soon with dinner so everyone go get washed up!"

"Awww." The little toucans chorused sadly. As they left, Pedro scrambled to stand up and he dusted himself off angrily mumbling under his breath.

"You okay amigo?"

Pedro turned to face him with a psychotic grin, "Fine. Perfectly fine! Why would something be wrong. Nope nothing's wrong. Just that my friends don't care that I'm being killed by a bunch of toucans. That's okay! Doesn't hurt or anything! In fact…I LOVE IT!" He screamed out the last part in frustration.

"Calm down buddy." Nico offered him a wing, which Pedro slapped away.

"Don't tell me to calm down canary boy! See look! I'm all wonky in the head 'cause you told me to calm down!"

"I'm sorry!" Nico held his wings up in defense.

Pedro slumped and sat down at the table, "S'okay."

Rafael blinked in confusion and decided to change the subject. Turning to Nico, he asked, "So anyway, how are your parents doing?"

Nico shrugged, "They're fine I guess."

"How are you doing?"

He shook his head, "I don't know…" Everyone remained silent, knowing that Nico was still upset about the whole thing with his parents. Nico sighed, "No worries guys, I'll be fine. So what should we do tonight?"

"Well I have to stay and help Eva with the kids," Rafael shrugged, "She insisted I stayed tonight."

Nico looked at Pedro and asked, "What about you?"

"I'm going to The Branch man! I need a night of just full out partying! You with me?" Pedro held up his wing and Nico gave him a high-five with a smile.

"Yeah buddy!"

"But I thought you were going to help me look for my brother some more tonight?" Chloe inquired.

Nico slumped a little, "Oh yeah…" Turning to Pedro, he said, "Sorry dude…"

Pedro frowned but then he got an idea and donned a mysterious smirk, "Well how about this? You two look around and meet me at The Branch later tonight?"

Nico looked over at Chloe and asked, "You okay with just hangin' with me for the night? As we look for your brother of course."

Chloe nodded, "Guess it's just you and me."

"It's a date." He said without really thinking. Chloe's eyes widened a little and she looked away. _A date? Nico and I are going out on a date?_ "We'll meet you at The Branch around eight. That gives us four hours to look around."

"A'ight birds!" Pedro exclaimed, "I'll see ya'll there then!" With that, he flew out of the hollow and when he was gone, Nico turned to Chloe.

"You ready?"

Chloe unconsciously made eye contact with him, making her heart flutter. Not knowing what to say, she just nodded. _Why are you acting weird all of a sudden?_

Nico grinned and looked at Rafael, "Don't worry Raffy. I'll have her home before midnight."

Rafael smiled and said in a father-like tone, "You better!"

Chloe stared at the two of them confused and Nico just laughed and grabbed her wing, "Shall we?"

She couldn't help but smile as she said, "We shall."

**xxx**

Nico and Chloe landed on a branch to catch their breath. They'd been flying all over the forest for the past two hours and still hadn't found any sign of Cameron. Chloe played with the sleeve on her sweatshirt and frowned, "I just don't know where to look anymore." Nico stayed silent but a small, discreet sniffle made him look at her. She had her face hidden in the sleeves of the sweatshirt and even though you couldn't see her, you could tell she was trying not to cry. Nico pouted at her, not knowing what else to do. After a moment he scooted over to her and patted her on the back softly.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm sure he's around here somewhere."

"No." She wiped her eyes a little, "If he was, we would've found him already."

Nico shrugged sympathetically, "Not necessarily. He could be hiding or something…"

"From what?"

"I don't know…" He sighed and added, "But I do know one thing." After she looked at him, he continued, "You didn't come this far to look for your brother just to give up."

Chloe stared at him in awe for a moment, as if he had just said the sweetest thing in the world. She nodded, renewed determination in her eyes, "You're right. I shouldn't be sitting here crying over it."

Nico grinned, "That's okay. Cry as much as you need but remember, you're not giving up. I won't let you."

Chloe smiled whole-heartedly at him, "Thank you Nico. For everything. You, Pedro, and Rafael have been so nice to me since I first got here and I couldn't be more thankful for it."

"No problem." He smiled back, "Now you wanna keep looking? We still have two hours to kill."

Chloe nodded but before she could say anything, something caught her eye, "What's that?" She tilted her head a little hoping that would give her a better view.

"Where?" Nico asked, looking around.

"Over there." She pointed and Nico followed her gaze.

"Kinda looks like a building."

"In the middle of the forest?" She raised her eyebrow at him and he shrugged. She grabbed his wing and said, "Let's check it out."

"Uh okay." Nico followed and they flew over to the strange building together. They finally got close enough to see it clearly. It was a gazebo. It was old; the wood was rotting from the rain and the panels on the roof were worn out and falling apart. Strings of cob webs covered the corners on the windows that were dark from the dirt and mildew. Chloe scrunched her nose for the strong earthy scent assaulted it. She quickly grabbed Nico's wing and pulled him towards it.

"What? Are you crazy?" He exclaimed, yanking his wing away from her. "We're not going in there."

"Why not?"

"You don't know what kind of animals are in there!"

"Come on! You scared?"

"No! I just don't think it's a good idea."

Chloe shrugged, "Suit yourself." With that, she turned and fluttered through the menacing doorway.

"No, Chloe!" But she was already gone. He groaned and looked around nervously. Without having a choice, he reluctantly flew in after her.

His beak dropped open.

The inside was definitely nicer than the outside. He expected everything to be covered in dust and dirt and cracks on the walls and floor. But it wasn't bad, if fact, it was kind of cozy. There were small carvings of all sorts of designs on the walls, giving it a Brazilian vibe. Whoever built this certainly was an artist. The wooden floor was surprisingly clean, no dust or cobwebs anywhere, which Nico found very odd. The windows were covered in some sort of black paint which explained why he couldn't see through them from outside. "This is strange…" He whispered, mostly to himself.

"I know right? It's so clean compared to how it looks outside." Chloe said, looking around. Nico almost forgot she was there.

"Yeah, I wonder why it's here."

Chloe just shrugged and said, "I don't know but it's really cool."

Nico nodded and glanced at Chloe with a smile, "What do you wanna do?"

She looked at him and shrugged, "Not sure. Maybe there's some clues here that will help me find my brother."

Nico looked around and gave her a weird look, "Clues? There's nothing here."

Chloe frowned, "Well there's got to be something here that could help me. We haven't had any leads at all."

"Look around Chloe. There's nothing here."

Chloe sighed heavily and sat down on the floor, "I know…"

Nico stayed silent for a while, just thinking. His mind kept floating back to the carving of an "R" in his parents' hollow. And how Chloe acted like she knew something about it…

"Chloe, I need to ask you something." He walked over and sat in front of her.

"What is it?" She asked softly, looking at him with a puzzling stare.

Nico took a deep breath and decided to just come right out and say it, "I want to know if you know anything about my parents getting attacked the other night."

Chloe's eyebrows came together and she said, "You think I had something to do with it?"

"No. But I saw the way you were looking at that "R" on the floor and how you left so quickly and unexpectedly. Seems a little suspicious to me." He raised an eyebrow as she averted her eyes.

When she didn't say anything, Nico lifted her chin up so that he was looking directly in her eyes and he said, "Chloe, if you know something you need to tell me. This is my family and I need to protect them from whatever danger that comes to them."

Chloe stared into his eyes and sighed, "Nico, I don't know anything; if I did I'd tell you."

Nico dropped his wing and nodded, "Alright then."

"You believe me don't you?" She said almost desperately.

Nico genuinely smiled at her, "Of course I believe you."

"Good." She relaxed, "Because you have to know that I would never do anything to hurt you or your family."

"I know." He sighed through his nose. He was still a little suspicious, but he decided to drop the issue for right now. "So what should we do now?"

Chloe shrugged, "Doesn't matter to me."

"We could just hang out here until we have to go to The Branch?"

Chloe opened her beak to say something but quickly stopped herself. You're here for your brother; not for Nico. But when she looked into his deep, brown eyes, she completely melted. "Okay."

Nico smiled as his eyes landed on her green sweatshirt, "Have I ever told you that green is a good color on you?"

Chloe looked away to hide her evident blush, "Thanks." _Maybe spending a little time with Nico is just what I need_. "Hey, you still want to learn how to slow dance?"

**xxx**

"…and then you take one step here and there ya go! You got it!" Chloe smiled as Nico gently caressed her waist. She was definitely on cloud nine. Nico was enjoying this just as much as she was, though he was better at hiding it. He gently spun her around and grinned.

"This isn't so hard."

"See! It's easy!" Chloe giggled.

"And a lot of fun actually…" He whispered, unconsciously looking into her eyes. He quickly looked away and suddenly found the wall to his left very interesting. Chloe also looked away, chewing the bottom of her beak. Her eyes suddenly landed on a moving black spot on the floor behind him. She squinted her eyes a little and saw that it was coming towards them. That's when she realized it was a…

"Spider!" She screamed loudly, making Nico jump out of his feathers, and somehow leaped onto Nico's back, pointing at the spider and screaming, "Kill it! Kill it Nico! It's right behind you!"

Nico was trying to unwrap Chloe's wings from around his neck, effectively choking him to death, "I can't….breathe!"

"AH NICO IT'S COMING CLOSER! IT'S GOING TO EAT US BOTH IF YOU DON'T KILL IT NOW!"

Nico finally grabbed his bottle cap off his head and threw it at the spider, scaring it into a small hole in the wall. Chloe climbed off his back and he collapsed to the floor, gasping in large breaths of air. "You….almost….made me die!"

Chloe looked at him with a guilty expression, "Sorry, I just hate spiders. And that one was ugly." She shuddered.

Nico took a deep breath and whispered hoarsely, "It's cool! How about we go to The Branch?"

"Sounds good." She smiled sheepishly and helped him to his feet.

**xxx**

Nico and Chloe entered The Branch and noticed right away how busy it was. They tried to squeeze their way through the crowd but ended up having to fly above the crowd because there was no room on the floor. Chloe glanced over at Nico and asked, "Should we find Pedro?"

Nico's eyes scanned the crowd and he immediately spotted Pedro in the middle of the dance floor, "Found him!" Nico exclaimed as he dove downwards. Chloe was about to follow but she suddenly had this odd feeling that someone was watching her. She looked around but didn't find anything out of the ordinary so she shrugged it off and flew after Nico.

"Hey girl!" Pedro greeted with a smile.

"Hi Pedro."

Pedro fluttered upwards and said, "Let's find a table before they're all taken." Nico and Chloe followed him as they looked for an open table. They finally found one in the back of the club and when they sat down at it, Pedro asked, "So did you guys find anything?"

Nico shook his head but Chloe exclaimed, "We actually did! We found this weird gazebo thing in the middle of the forest. I don't know why it's there but I'm hoping maybe it will help me in some way find my brother."

Although Nico was in doubt, he wasn't going to show it because of how happy Chloe looked. So instead he smiled, "Yeah, hopefully."

Pedro nodded, "Great! You'll have to show it to me later." He turned to Nico and added, "By the way, Tipa wants us to perform Turn up the Music again. I don't know if you wanna but I told him we'd do it…"

Nico grinned a little, "Already making decisions without me huh? Well okay then." Turning to Chloe he said, "You alright sitting here by yourself?" Chloe nodded and Nico added, "You can hang out back stage if you want."

"I'm good. No worries. Now go! You're avid fans are waiting." She grinned. He smiled back and followed Pedro as they flew to the stage.

When the music died down, Pedro yelled, "Hey hey birds! How ya'll doin' tonight?" Whoops and hollers from the crowd swept through the club. "Awesome! You guys waiting for a performance?" The crowd cheered even louder and Pedro looked at Nico and winked. Then turning back to the audience, he asked, "Anyone in particular you guys wanna hear tonight?" The audience screamed and began to chant, "Nico, Pedro, Nico, Pedro."

Chloe laughed a little but she suddenly heard a strange noise. As the crowd continued cheering, Nico and Pedro got into their positions for the beginning of the song. Chloe looked around, trying to find the source of the strange clinking sound that was occurring somewhere in the club. Nobody else looked particularly worried about anything but then again, everyone else was screaming their lungs out. Chloe looked up at the stage and that's when she spotted it. One of the klieg lights above the stage was hanging loosely, about ready to fall. Chloe's eyes widened; she knew that if it fell, it would fall right on top of Nico and Pedro. She quickly flew towards the stage and shouted, "NICO! PEDRO! LOOK OUT!"

That's when the klieg light fell and came to a crash before Chloe could make it to the stage.

**xxx**

Nico panted hard. He honestly had no idea what just happened. One second he and Pedro were about to start singing and before he knew it, Pedro had tackled him and now he was he was lying on the stage, staring at the broken light that had landed right where they had been standing. It was now smashed in a heap on the center stage, exclamations of shock, surprise and fear going through the crowd. He looked over at Pedro, who was also panting hard, and asked, "You okay?"

Pedro nodded and looked around frantically, "Dude what just happened?"

"I don't know man!"

"Guys!" They both looked over and saw Chloe flying towards them, "Are you okay?"

They both nodded and Chloe helped them stand up. Tipa suddenly landed next to them and asked, "What happened?"

"We don't know! That light just randomly fell!" Nico exclaimed.

Tipa sighed and ran a wing down his face in frustration, "Okay, why don't you guys go get a drink or something and I'll fire our lighting guy." Before he left, the tall bird turned to the crowd to give them some calming words and reassure them that their favorite headliners weren't injured.

Nico picked up his bottle cap and sighed, "Sounds like a good idea." He turned and began to fly towards the bar with Pedro. Chloe was about to follow, but she suddenly got that feeling that someone was watching her again. She looked around nervously, just waiting to see the face of a stranger. She found nothing but a crowd of birds, some impatiently waiting for some more music to dance to, others skittish from the potential accident. "Hey Chloe! You coming?" She turned and looked at Nico and Pedro who were waiting for her at the edge of the stage. She nodded quickly and flew after them. They each found a spot at the bar and ordered some bird-friendly, non-alcoholic drinks.

When the bartender went to fix the drinks, Chloe asked, "Are you guys sure you're okay?"

Nico nodded with a soft smile, "Yeah, we're fine. A little shaken up but it'll be okay. Just a lighting malfunction. No big deal."

"Has it ever happened before?"

Nico furrowed his brows and shook his head, "Now that I think of it, no. It's never happened. Our lighting guy is usually really cautious with the lights."

"Hmm odd." Chloe said suspiciously. The bartender returned and placed three drinks in front of them. "Maybe one of the screws holding it up was old?"

Nico shrugged, "Maybe." He picked up his drink and took a sip. His nose scrunched up in disgust and he spit it back out. "Blegh!"

"What is it?" Chloe looked at him in concern.

"My drink tastes funny."

Chloe looked at her drink and sniffed it, a look of disgust coming to her face as well, "I don't think this is what we ordered."

Nico turned to Pedro and asked, "Pedro, does your drink taste funny to you?"

Pedro shrugged and chugged the whole drink down. He belched loudly and shook his head, "Nope. Tastes just fine to me! I'm gonna go dance for a bit. I'll see you two later."

After he disappeared, Nico turned to Chloe and said, "Maybe it's just a canary thing?"

Chloe giggled and nodded, "We're weird birds." Nico laughed as well. Their laughter was suddenly and quickly cut off by a loud scream.

Nico and Chloe whipped around to see Pedro's unconscious body, lying in the middle of the dance floor.


	5. Chapter 5

**OMGOSH GUYS! I'M A MONSTER! I am SO STINKIN SORRY for not updating! It's been really on and off with writing lately and I've been so occupied with school! I'm sorry! Please don't kill me! I promise from here on out that the next chapters will be more epic (not like this one isn't, so please still read it! ;)) This chapter is pretty good in retrospect to the time it took to write! I'm a horrible person… Ugh. Please forgive me! ILoveNico1000x and I should try to crank out as much as possible before school starts up again (cuz then it is back to focusing unfortunately…) So biggest apologies, things start to really heat up here, so let me know how much you love or hate it, love or hate me for my inconsistencies in writing, etc. etc. Just let me know whatever and I'll stop by to read the reviews ;) Adios for now!**

**~EmK/EmmerzK**

**Chapter 5**

Cameron zipped through the tunnel at top speeds, nearly plowing down many of his coworkers. Entering into a large, circular hall that had multiple branches leading to more tunnels, he took a sharp right and flew to a large wooden door. Panting, he pushed it open with all his might, and ran into the office to where the leaders were talking over papers. They looked up when their small yellow friend ran in.

"Cameron?" The Spotted Harrier asked.

"Commissioner! I know where Chloe is! I just saw her!" Cameron wheeled to a stop in front of the table, his blue eyes wide.

The other leaders exchanged nervous glances while the Commissioner calmly asked, "Where?"

"She just flew by with another canary who wears a bottlecap. I don't know his name-"

"His name is Nico. He's a club performer with his friend Pedro, a Red-Crested Cardinal. She'll be fine with them." The Commissioner turned back to the table.

Cameron cocked his head in confusion, "Wha? What do you mean she'll be safe with them? We've got to go get her-"

"No, we don't have time for that right now-"

"She's _my_ sister and I've been looking for her since you guys separated us _two years_ ago! Now that I've finally found her, you won't let me go get her?!" Cameron crossed his wings in anger.

The Commissioner pinched the space between his eyes in slight frustration, "Cameron, I understand that you want to bring her here to ensure her safety, I really do, but we don't have time or resources for that right now. She will stay with Nico and Pedro and their friends, they are keeping her in one piece, and she's getting closer to us than you think. The Raptors are already making their moves to catch her by attacking Nico's friends and families, and we're already making plans to stop them and intercept her. So stop freaking out and trust me. I have a plan and I _will_ let you get Chloe soon. I promise."

Cameron sighed heavily and looked away, calmly replying, "Okay."

"Good. In the meantime, get ready for a bust. We just got word that the Raptors attacked a family in the east side of the forest and a couple kids were kidnapped. I want you there to gather info."

* * *

Nico paced up and down the countertop of the Sanctuary, switching between fiddling with his bottlecap and crossing his wings. Occasionally he would mutter frustrated words under his breath, but nobody could catch it. Either way, his pacing was starting to drive Chloe nuts.

"Nico, why don't you sit down?" She finally, but calmly, asked.

Nico turned and scowled at her, "I will do no such thing until I know Pedro is okay."

Chloe swallowed, "He's going to be f-"

"Stop saying that! He didn't just pass out on the dance floor, Chloe! Somebody jacked up our drinks! Right _after_ we almost got killed by a klieg light! Don't tell me that everything's going to be fine cuz it's not!" Nico exclaimed in anger, but by the end of his spiel his voice cracked in desperation. He exhaled heavily and turned away, putting his face in his wings to try to calm down.

Chloe stood up and wrapped her wings around him from behind, giving him a hug. "It's going to be okay," she whispered in his ear softly. "I promise."

Nico merely relaxed his shoulders, not knowing what to say. Too much had happened the last few days. First his parents got attacked and now two "accidents" at the Branch in one night?! Too much stress was beginning to weigh on him so that he didn't know what to do, where to turn. How could he protect the ones he loved when every single time he turned around, something else happened?

Chloe was thinking hard about all this as well, but in a different point of view. _My curse is following me…_ she thought.

Flapping wings caught their attention; they both looked up to see Aaron and Hannah landing. Hannah ran forward and quickly wrapped her son in a hug, who for once didn't argue. He just hugged her back as Chloe stepped away and stood by Aaron.

"How is he?" Hannah whispered.

"I don't know." Nico mumbled. "I don't know anything anymore." His eyes flicked to Chloe's feet discreetly, suspicion welling up inside him again. At this point it was all he could do not to outright ask what she knew.

Once they had seen Pedro unconscious on the dance floor, they both had rushed over to see what happened. The Cardinal was out cold and his breathing was labored. Many birds had tried to revive him for twenty minutes before Tipa finally announced the club would be closing for the night, too many accidents in one night for him to risk more, and asked for someone to help Nico and Chloe take Pedro to the Sanctuary. Another bird volunteered to fetch Nico's parents.

The entire flight to the Sanctuary Nico kept a close eye on Pedro, but didn't rule out Chloe. He also watched her mostly for her safety but it was then he saw how jumpy she was. Shifty eyes, slow, deep breathing as if she was trying to keep calm, she jumped every time he asked if she was alright. The more time he spent with her the more suspicious he got. But his worry over his best friend took precedence over that right now.

Before another word could be spoken, a door on the other side of the room swung open, the hinges creaking a tad, and the tall, nerdy Doctor Tulio Montero strode in. He smiled down at the birds on the table as he approached. Hannah released her son and they all waited patiently for the man to speak.

"Good news everyone! Your little friend is going to be just fine! He must have gotten into some sort of chemical that doesn't do well with any animal, let alone birds. He'll sleep for a while longer, but he'll be good as new by morning."

The birds all sighed in relief, chirping their thanks. Tulio rubbed the top of Aaron's head before walking back to his office.

Aaron scowled after the doctor before brushing his feathers back down with his wings, "I hate it when humans do that. I'm a bird, not a dog!"

Nico snorted, "Now you know how I fe-" He stopped at his mother's harsh glare. He gulped, "Ha ha, so… I'm gonna go see Pedro now. Chloe, wanna come?"

"Nah, you go on. I'll see him later." Chloe smiled.

"Okay. Stay with them though." Nico said firmly before taking off.

Chloe discreetly slumped. She had hoped he wouldn't tell her to stay put.

* * *

"Don't know how it happened, don't know why but you don't really need a reason when the stars shine just to fall in love," Nico sang softly, leaned up against Pedro's bed.

The Cardinal had been sleeping, as Tulio said, for the past hour since Nico came in. As far as the little canary knew, his best friend hadn't moved. But it was his singing that woke the cardinal up eventually.

"Made to love each other, made to be together for a lifetime, in the sunshine-"

"You preppin' that for Chloe?"

Nico yelped, whipping around to find his red-headed best friend smirking evilly at him. The canary sighed in annoyance, "_No, _I am _not_!"

"Eh, sure you're not." Pedro snickered.

"Meh-heh-heh…" Nico whined with a pout.

"Don't you _meh-heh-heh_ me." Pedro laughed, and then quickly stopped, "What does 'meh' even _mean_?"

Nico shrugged, "I dunno."

Both friends laughed lightly before Nico asked, "How ya feelin?"

Pedro shrugged, "Tired. Other than that not too bad. I assume that drink really was messed up then?"

"Yep. You were out in five seconds."

"How long has it been?"

Nico winced, looking at the clock, finally realizing what time it was. "Oh boy… at least six hours…"

Pedro also looked at the clock, "Dude, it's almost two a.m.! Why aren't you sleepin?"

"Cuz I didn't want to. Wasn't tired even if I did want to." Nico muttered, avoiding eye contact. Pedro cocked his head at him, almost confused at his normally carefree friend's attitude. Nico played with his bottlecap in his wings, still not looking up, "I was… I was really worried about you, man."

Pedro was speechless for a few moments. Then he grinned, "Don't worry about me. I'll be better by tomorrow. You ain't gettin' rid of me that easily."

Nico smiled, "As if." They both grinned at each other before Nico's smile faded. "If only I could figure out what the problem really was."

"Waddya mean?" Pedro stretched.

"I _mean_ something is going on." Nico leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Seriously dude, we are never _this_ accident prone. But first my parents, then the light accident, now _this_? What's going on?"

Pedro looked at him in a weird way, "Well don't ask me-"

"No, not you! Ugh, it was rhetorical!" Nico pushed Pedro's shoulder with an eye roll. "Something's up."

Nico's suspicious look at the far wall confirmed Pedro's suspicions that his yellow friend knew something. "Waddya think it is?"

Nico pursed his beak for a moment before replying in a low voice, "Chloe."

Pedro did a double take, but Nico cut off anything he thought about saying. "Pedro, think about it. Nothing was going wrong until she came here and we started helping her. Now all of a sudden people are ganging up on my parents, drugging our drinks, and sabotaging The Branch. When she saw that symbol at my parents' she left almost immediately, but not before giving Raffy and I the cues that she knew what it was. When I asked her what was going on, if she knew, she said she didn't know, but how can she not know anything when she's practically freaking out on the way to the Sanctuary when we brought you here?!"

Pedro put a wing on Nico's shoulder to steady him since he flailed around so much he nearly knocked himself over. Nico sighed in exhaustion from the hour, his rather long spiel, and all the emotion inside him bubbling over.

Pedro watched him for a moment before replying, "Look dude, I understand. I got them vibes at your parents pad too. Which is why I left with her so she wasn't alone out there. We'll figure it out, but not tonight. We'll question her later. But now, you should get some sleep. That's what I'm gonna do."

Pedro promptly flipped over onto his belly, tail feathers sticking straight up, wings hanging over the edges of the little birdy bed and head crooked to the side.

Nico had an eyebrow raised at his friend's position. "I still have no idea how you can sleep like that."

Pedro scoffed, "I dunno how you can sing in your sleep and not know it."

Nico paused, "Touché."

He then faced forward and got in a comfortable position leaned against the bed, his legs crossed in front of him, his wings crossed over him and bottlecap pulled squarely over his eyes, providing the perfect shelter of darkness.

The last thing he thought before sleep overtook him: _Tomorrow I get answers._

* * *

"I wonder where Raffy is?" Pedro asked, papaya juice dribbling down his beak when he spoke.

Hannah reached over with a corner of the napkin they had stolen and wiped the juice away, "Don't talk with your beak full honey. But I'm sure he'll be around. Eva did have him stay home to help with all those kids, remember."

"Oh yeah." Pedro nodded before taking another huge bite of fruit.

Nico shook his head at his his best friend as he enjoyed his shared orange with his dad and Chloe. Pedro had been released from the Sanctuary about an hour ago and since it was nigh on noon, Pedro insisted they find food. Now they were enjoying a few different fabulous fruits from the downtown market.

Nico looked over at Chloe with a smile. As she was eating her food she watched the hustle and bustle of the market below with interest. She said she hadn't really been around humans too much; here and there on her travels, but she never took time to actually watch the strange creatures. At least none of them were as strange as that Tulio Montero…

Aaron lay on his back presently with a sleepy sigh, "Now what?"

"Well we ain't sleepin, I'll tell ya that much." Pedro said, standing and stretching his wings.

Aaron looked up with a short scowl, "You'd deny an old bird his daily nap?"

"Well if you're such an old geezer, why don't you just go back home and sleep?" Pedro countered with a smirk.

Now Nico stood, standing up to his full height, which wasn't much, beside his friend with his wings crossed, "Don't you talk to my dad that way."

"Awww wittle yellow birdie don't like that? I suppose I should feel sorry for him. Mom, I think he needs a hug!" Pedro mocked, looking pointedly at Hannah, who smirked.

Nico scowled, unfazed, "Really?"

Hannah stood with a twinkle in her eye, "Really." Then she grabbed her son and pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

"GAH! MOOOOM!" He squirmed but she merely smiled and held him closer. He soon slumped with a frown at his friend, "Thanks."

Pedro patted the canary's bottlecap with a steady *plink*, "Anytime squirt!" Then he quickly took off in a mad dash for the market.

"OHHHH NO YOU DI'N'T! YOU'RE GOIN DOWN!" Nico screeched after the cardinal, managing to get free from his mother's grasp. He zipped off the rooftop after Pedro as fast as his little wings could take him.

Chloe and his parents laughed at their shrinking forms, the girl shaking her head, "They just never quit do they?"

"Nope. Never have, never will." Aaron smiled, wrapping a wing around his mate's waist.

"How'd they meet anyway?"

"Ha! Now that's a great story to tell." Aaron laughed.

Hannah smiled, "Pedro's family moved here from Sao Paulo when he was five. They moved into a hollow a few trees away, so we got to know them fairly quickly. Nico and Pedro didn't meet until the first day of school, but they were just acquaintances then, really. It wasn't until after a few weeks that certain birds such as Amanda and most of her clique started making fun of Pedro for his more robust stature. Pedro just ignored them, but still being the new kid around, he didn't have any friends.

"Nico would always tell us about it and say how he felt bad for the bird, so we encouraged him to befriend Pedro. He'd agree that he thought that Pedro was a nice guy to get to know better. One Saturday the kids were flying downtown and apparently somebody shoved Pedro off a rooftop. Pedro didn't realize what was going on before he landed in a bucket of purple paint.

"All the kids began laughing at him and making more mean jokes as Pedro could barely pull himself out of the bucket. All he could do was walk away since his feathers were wet. That was when Nico stepped up, told them all to leave Pedro alone, and then he flew down to see if he could help."

"Wow, poor guy…" Chloe frowned. "So they were friends after that?"

"Well sorta…" Aaron smiled. "Pedro thought Nico was just feeling sorry for him and that he wasn't genuinely trying to help, so he started this big argument. As they usually do, they bickered and argued until one or the other did or said something totally outrageous, and then before long they were dying of laughter. Nico managed to help him to a fountain where he tried to clean the paint off, they talked for hours in the meantime because he was covered to his down, and then they came home afterwards."

Hannah took over again, "They became even closer when Pedro realized Nico could sing. Pedro apparently used to perform some music at his school in Sao Paulo with his friends, so when he came here, he had to drop it. So when Nico opens his beak one day and starts singing, Pedro was back on cloud nine. It's been great ever since."

"Aww that's so sweet!" Chloe smiled, searching the crowd to try and find the boys. "Has there ever been a time where they have had a really big argument?"

The parents remained quiet for a few moments with pursed beaks. "Yes…" Hannah said slowly. "That was bad."

"What happened?" Chloe asked in concern.

Aaron frowned deeply, "It was a little over a year ago actually. There was this one hot shot that thought he was all that; a King Bird of Paradise to be exact. He thought he was God's gift to Creation." The canary rolled his eyes in disgust. "Anyway, he befriended Nico and they hung out a few times, my son not realizing that the newcomer had already met Pedro and mocked him for stuff such as his size or how he talks. Pedro handled it better since he is older and he didn't need anyone to stick up for him, so he was fine. So when Nico told him he'd be hanging out with a new friend without realizing it was the same Bird of Paradise, and then he saw them together, it rubbed him the wrong way anyway. But then…" Aaron paused.

"Then?" Chloe asked. She almost didn't want to ask from the look on the parents' faces.

"Then…"Aaron sighed, "The same night they ran into each other in The Branch. Nico was actually with the Bird of Paradise and Pedro went over to ask Nico something, maybe about performing, I don't know. But before he could say anything, the jerk started making fun of Pedro obnoxiously in front of everyone so that he ended up leaving. Alone." Aaron finished, hoping Chloe would get the hint.

She frowned in confusion, "Alone? Why didn't Nico-" She stopped short. "Wait… He didn't… Why?" she asked incredulously.

"Nico just… we don't know. The one time in his life that he never stuck up for his best friend was in the middle of The Branch in front of everyone. Pedro ended up leaving not because the bird was being too snobby or mean; that wasn't what hurt. It was his best friend just standing there and letting it happen." Hannah replied quietly.

Chloe winced and looked away, an uncomfortable knot rising in her stomach. She muttered an "I see…" before the feeling completely overwhelmed her.

"Needless to say it uh... took some time for them to reconcile. Of course Nico felt like dying in a hole, and he deserved it. When we heard about it, well actually, when **I** heard about it, I almost beat his tail feathers to a pulp-"

"Aaron, calm down." Hannah intervened calmly.

"I am calm. Now." Aaron sighed heavily. "But they didn't talk for a few days because Pedro was too angry and Nico was too embarrassed, and in the meantime Rafael was trying to control all the gab throughout the forest. Thankfully Rafael and a few of his connections booted that King Bird of Paradise for good."

Chloe nodded, and then asked, "How long was it until they talked again?"

Aaron looked to Hannah as he spoke, "A week? Yeah, about a week."

"Yikes." Chloe looked down toward the market when she heard a crash and a few yelps in surprise from the boys far below. "Must've been bad."

"Ohhhh yeah," Hannah nodded. "We told them to duke it out where no one could hear them, human or bird. And they did; came back about eight hours later with a completely renewed friendship. They haven't spoken of it one bit and they never will."

"Great!" Chloe smiled up at them before scanning the market again. "Good to see that their friendship lasted."

"Yes." Hannah smiled.

Aaron cleared his throat, "Suppose we should go down and see what the rascals are up to?"

Hannah tossed her head a bit with a chuckle, "I suppose."

Chloe giggled as she swooped to the market with them. They took a few turns around some melon carts and orange crates until they saw Nico hovering above a mango crate, laughing hysterically.

"What did you do?" Chloe asked in an accusatory tone.

Nico wiped his eyes and kept chuckling. Pointing down, he said, "'Twasn't me!"

They looked down at the mangoes lying in the crate suspiciously. Suddenly one shifted and said, "Kenoogetdistingoffmeeee!"

Before any others could respond Nico busted out laughing again and barely managed to flap gracefully to the ground where he dissolved in his own laughs and tears. Chloe looked at the "magic mango" again to notice it had wings sticking out the sides, talons out the bottom and a little red Mohawk out the top.

"Nico, seriously!?" Chloe frowned down at him, trying not to laugh at how cute his hysterics were at the present moment, and flapped with the parents to free their cardinal friend.

After a few "hee-hoes", the three canaries managed to free Pedro, who gasped for air like he had been squished under a mango for five minutes. Which he had. After he said thanks, they all landed beside Nico, whose laughs were slowly subsiding.

"Some friend you are." Pedro stuck out his tongue at the snickering canary.

Nico smirked, "You're welcome."

"What was it you said from under the mango exactly?" Aaron asked, still trying to decipher that bit of… whatever language it had been.

"I said, 'can you get this thing off me?'" Pedro restated.

Nico snorted and quickly put his wings over his beak to keep from laughing again. Pedro scowled down at him, "Oh come on, it wasn't that funny!"

"Aw come on, it was funny!"

"It was only funny for a few seconds until I couldn't breathe."

"That only made it funnier!" Nico grinned, crossing his wings behind his head on the pavement.

"Did not! Let's see you stuck under something that's the weight of a mango!" Pedro crossed his wings. The scowl suddenly leapt from his face, being replaced with a smile of pure mischief. Nico's smile quickly diminished along with everyone else's. Without further warning, Pedro turned around and promptly sat on top of Nico!

"Gah!" The canary exclaimed as his lungs were flattened, bottlecap falling off with a clink. "Dude, get off meee!"

"Niope!"

"Uhh Pedro, he's turning blue…" Chloe warned after a few more seconds.

Aaron chuckled, "I always wondered what he'd look like as a blueberry."

Hannah slapped her mate's wing and whirled on Pedro, "Pedro Cardinal, you stop smooshing my baby right now!"

Nico glared as best he could, his eyes wider than usual because of all the pressure rising to his head, "I am **not** a baby!"

"Pah! Yo' own mama done called you a baby! What now, son?" Pedro grinned, looking down at his best friend.

Nico opened his beak slowly, "I… can't f-feel my f-feet…"

"Pedro, I really think you should get off him." Chloe grabbed his wing.

"Nahh, he'll be fine for a few more-"

"GET OFF MY SON! **NOW!**" Hannah screamed with a rage no bird had ever seen before (not even Aaron because he fell clean over with her exclamation).

Pedro squealed like a little girl and scampered behind Chloe as if he were running from the boogie man. Nico inhaled as deeply and quickly as he could, clutching his torso as if it hurt from a fat cardinal sitting on it for five minutes. Which he had. After a few moments, Hannah scooped him up and began hugging and fussing over him in a fast, high pitched voice.

Throughout her spiel, Nico turned to his best friend, who was still hiding behind Pedro, "You planned this, didn't you?"

Pedro's eyes were wide as saucers and he shook his head violently, making Chloe shake back and forth in the process. Chloe giggled and tried to free herself from his grasp.

"HEY! How many times have I told you buzzards to stay OUT OF MY MARKET!"

The birds looked up in horror to see the market owner descending upon them with a broom. With screams and cries of terror, the birds dove under the nearest cart and flapped into the air as fast as they could. When they regrouped on top of a café umbrella a few blocks away, they sighed in relief.

"That was close…" Chloe sighed, dropping her head on Nico's shoulder. He stiffened slightly, but a slight look from his parents told him not to move (especially his mom) and look from Pedro told him not to blush. Unfortunately he couldn't hide the slight heat creeping up the back of his neck. He quickly prayed she wouldn't somehow feel his temperature spike before he casually replied, "Yep…"

Aaron slapped his forehead and Hannah slightly shook her head. _Oops_, Nico thought sarcastically. _Apparently I was supposed to say something cheesy or romantic… Opportunity blown. Fail._

"Man, I'm tired now." Pedro sighed, lying down on his back.

Nico raised an eyebrow, using that opportunity to distract himself, somewhat, from the girl leaning on his shoulder, "You're tired? I'm still trying to catch my breath from being under your big butt!"

"Pah, welcome to my world, son! I was under a mango for longer and that was heavier!"

"Stop calling me son!" Nico wrinkled his eyebrows. "You're so weird."

"You should just deal the cards you're dealt with and continue the argument, son." Aaron interrupted with a wink. Nico sighed loudly, too tired to come up with a comeback.

Chloe smiled and sat up. Looking up at the sky, she realized it had to be almost three in the afternoon. In her gaze she saw a black speck zooming towards them at top speeds. She squinted her eyes, trying to make out what it was. Her eyes widened in recognition.

"Hey, it's Rafael! Rafael!" Chloe waved up at him, hoping he had seen them.

Rafael had actually seen them from a mile away. He flew up to them and landed on the umbrella with such an ungraceful thud, he nearly bounced the smaller birds of stature off!

Noticing his frazzled look and that he was panting, Hannah asked, "Raffy, are you alright?"

"No!" Rafael replied quickly, practically on his knees and begging them, "Please tell me you've seen Paco, Carlos, and Sophia anywhere? Please tell me you have!"

"Whoa, Rafael! Calm down! Take a deep breath, okay?" Aaron jumped up with everyone else but taking over in calming him down. They were all in shock; Rafael **never** freaked out, but let alone like this! However, he listened and took a long deep breath, but his wings were still shaking from adrenaline. "That's better," Aaron smiled a little. "Now start at the top."

Rafael swallowed thickly and said quietly, "Three of my chicks have been missing since this morning. We've looked everywhere and we have half of the forest searching. **Please** tell me you've seen them! You're my only hope!"

The more he talked, the more desperation graced his voice and features. Aaron turned to the rest of the shocked group and soon all eyes were downcast. None of them had seen the chicks all day.

Rafael sighed heavily, putting his wings on his face, trying to not freak out.

"Raffy…" Hannah stepped forward trying to make eye contact. "Raffy listen to me, we will find them, alright?"

Rafael didn't move for a few more moments until suddenly he removed his wings and sighed again. A new energy radiated in his face and in his eyes and he nodded, "Yes, we will."

Everyone smiled and Aaron nodded, "There's the Raffy we know." Turning to the others, he said, "You kids start searching around here. We're going with Rafael."

Nico was the first to nod vehemently, the other two right behind him. His parents and the trying-to-remain-cool father took off towards the forest after that and were soon specks in the distance. The trio stood there for a few moments in silence, trying to think things through. Pedro, where to look; Nico, adding this tragedy to his ever-growing list of stress, and wondering what the cause was; and Chloe, trying to not break down that innocent children were now at stake because of her curse

* * *

**Me: Ooooh! What'd you guys think? Little suspicious ending there huh? Yeah, the suspicions get higher trust me! Haha So hopefully I won't take as long to write the next chapter because this is our last week before Christmas break, so I should be able to get it done soon! :) Hope you liked it and please leave an awesome review! **


	6. Chapter 6

**A'ight you guys! Get ready! This is seriously when it starts getting reeeeally epic! Haha EmmerzK told me to tell you that she loved reading this chapter so you guys will too! Haha trust me, it's good! ;) **

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Nico narrowed his eyes in suspicion every time he looked at Chloe. They were currently flying towards the beach to look for Rafael's missing kids and she looked more nervous than last night. He frowned, knowing full well she knew something about what was going on. He refrained from asking any questions, however, and focused on the matter on hand.

"You guys see them?" Pedro asked as he scanned the beach. It was a hot day so, as expected, the beach was packed with beach-goers. But unfortunately there were no birds in sight.

"I don't see them anywhere." Nico sighed in frustration. It didn't help that he was sweating under his bottle cap. He would give anything to just dive into the water.

Nico turned to Chloe and asked, "Do you see them?" When she didn't answer, he added, "Chloe?" She jumped and looked at him.

"What?"

"Is everything okay?" He raised an eyebrow as she just nodded ferociously. When she looked away, he shook his head and frowned again.

Pedro looked back at Nico and Chloe, noticing they were falling behind. He also noticed how frightened Chloe looked and how peeved Nico looked. Pedro whistled, getting their attention, and gestured towards an empty spot on the beach where there were no humans. "Let's land there for a second."

When they landed, Chloe began to get uncomfortable and played with her sweatshirt sleeve nervously. _Oh please let them be okay! _

Pedro stood next to Nico and whispered, "Dude, maybe now would be a good time for you to ask her what she knows."

Nico's eyes never left Chloe as he said, "I was just thinking that."

"I'll head to The Branch and see if anyone there knows anything, that way you two can be alone." Pedro attempted hide his smirk as he said 'alone'.

Nico chose to ignore that and said loud enough for Chloe to hear, "Be careful man. You never know who's gonna turn on you." Nico was still staring at Chloe with narrowed eyes as Pedro flew away.

Chloe watched Pedro go with wide eyes, "Where's he going?"

"To The Branch," he stated bluntly.

Chloe noticed Nico's glare that was being sent her way and she cowered back a little, "What?"

He crossed his wings a little and tried to remain calm, "So you wanna tell me what's going on or what?"

She stared at him in shock and shook her head, "What do you mean, I don't-"

"Chloe." Nico stopped her, "Don't lie to me. I know you told me to trust you but with everything that's happened, I need some answers and I need them now." Nico took a deep breath, still trying to remain calm.

Chloe stared at him for a moment and then sighed heavily. She took his wing in hers and led him over to a rock and sat down. He sat down beside her, patiently waiting for her to talk. After a minute, she finally said, "Look, Nico I don't know exactly what's going on but I do know that it has been happening for a while now."

Nico stared at her confused, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that before my brother and I were separated, we were, I guess, being chased or followed by someone. I don't know who but after we were separated, it continued to happen. Every city I went to, I was being followed. And…" She paused and let out a deep sigh.

"And?" Nico pressed.

"And every bird that I've ever met, bad things would happen to them. That's why I don't stay in the same city for too long because I'm afraid that if I do-" She paused again and looked away.

"More birds would get hurt." Nico finished her sentence.

Chloe nodded and whispered, "It's a curse. I'm a curse." She winced and put her face in her wings.

Nico just sat there, not sure what to say. This whole time he had been thinking of her as the reason behind all the 'accidents' when really, none of it was her fault. She's just as scared and confused as he is. _These guys must be pretty dangerous if they're willing to go to such extremes._ Nico shook his head and reached over, taking her wing in his and said softly, "I'm sorry I kinda blamed you. I understand now. This isn't your fault."

She sniffed a little, "Yeah it is. If it weren't for me, none of this would've happened. Maybe it'd be best for all of us if I just leave now, save you the trouble."

Nico's stomach dropped a little at the thought of her leaving, "No, what about your brother? He's here somewhere. You said so yourself. Besides, we're all in this together." He leaned forwards to get a better look at her face and added, "Right?"

Chloe smiled a little, "But what about your family? They could get hurt…or worse. Nico I won't let that happen."

Nico grinned a little, "Then we won't let it happen." Chloe sighed and looked away from him again. Nico gently reached over and tilted her chin so that she was looking at him again, "We'll figure this out together okay? I won't leave you to do this alone."

Chloe grinned at him and whispered, "Okay."

Nico smiled and added, "And if you want my opinion, you are most definitely not a curse." He paused and scratched the back of head and said with a sly smile, "You're more of a blessing actually."

Chloe stared at him in awe and bit her beak happily. She could feel the blush forming on her cheeks. "Thanks." She said softly.

Nico chuckled, "Come on, let's go see if we can find Pedro."

* * *

Cameron observed the large toucan, who was talking to a pair of Yellow Macaws about the situation on hand. He carefully listened to what they were saying. So far, everyone the toucan father, whose name was Rafael, talked to had no idea where the children were or haven't seen them all day. Cameron took note on how stressed out Rafael looked, his feathers were a frazzled mess and his eyes were mad with anticipation. Cameron had to chuckle as he watched the toucan whip his wings around his head in frustration, ultimately scaring the Macaws away. A falcon by the name of Andre landed next to Cameron and said, "He seems pretty upset."

"You would be too if you lost three of your children." Cameron stated while he watched Rafael sink to the ground and put his head in his wings. "They're becoming more open with their attacks."

Andre looked over at him, "Who? The Raptors?" Cameron nodded and Andre asked, "You think they did this?"

"I know they did this. They're attacking Rafael now because he knows Chloe."

"You're worried they're going to get Chloe before we do." It was more of a statement than a question and Cameron knew it was true.

"That's why I want to find her right away, to ensure her safety." Cameron sighed.

Andre shook his head, "You know we can't do that. There's too many other lives at stake."

"I know." A red blur suddenly caught Cameron's eye and he turned just in time to see a Red-Tailed Hawk disappear into the greenery.

Andre saw it too and asked with a bewildered expression on his face, "Do you know who that was?"

Cameron narrowed his eyes and said, "No, but I suddenly have a _very _bad feeling."

* * *

"So you really have no idea who's been following you?" Nico asked as he and Chloe flew towards The Branch.

She shook her head, "No, but sometimes I can feel them watching me…"

"Them?" Nico raised an eyebrow, "As in there are more than one?"

Chloe nodded, "At least I think so. It's almost like a conspiracy you know? Like, maybe they want me for something? I don't know…"

"Freaky." Nico added quietly.

"You have no idea." Chloe rolled her eyes a little and looked around. The forest was beautiful in the daylight. Everything was so alive and bright, she couldn't help smile. Nico noticed her gazing over the beautiful landscape and grinned. _She has a nice smile. _He couldn't seem to stop staring at her in that moment. The sunlight was shining on her in a way that made her look angelic. He was so mesmerized in her that he didn't realize where he was flying and ended up flying through a bunch of leaves. He sputtered and struggled to stay airborne as he wiped leaves away from his eyes. Chloe looked at him and laughed when she realized what had happened.

"What?" He asked, blushing slightly. She just shook her head and laughed again, veering into him playfully. He looked at her, smirk playing on his beak and he turned to veer into her but she suddenly sped up causing him to miss her and fly into a nearby tree.

Chloe looked over her shoulder at him and laughed again, flying faster. Nico shook his head at her, readjusting his bottle cap, and quickly flew after her. He chased her as she flew through and around trees, over streams, through bushes and flowerbeds. Nico honestly couldn't remember a time when he's felt more happy than he was right now. Chloe slowed down a little, giving him time to catch up. They shared a smile as they flew steadily through the forest. "Where are we going again?" Nico asked.

"To The Branch." Chloe giggled lightly.

"Oh right. I forgot…" He chuckled nervously as he looked at her.

She smiled at him, "Aw got caught up in the moment?"

Nico breathed his laugh and winked at her, "Just a little."

Chloe's heart fluttered and she rolled her eyes to try to hide her blush, "Come on Romeo, I'll beat you to The Branch?"

He grinned, "I don't know Juliet, I'm pretty fast."

Chloe smirked and stole his bottle cap, placing it on her head. Gaining speed, she said, "We'll see about that."

* * *

Nico and Chloe flew into The Branch and looked around for their cardinal friend. After a few moments, they spotted him in a far off corner talking to a couple of children. They walked over to him just in time to hear him say, "Now look, you can either tell me what you know or we can tussle right here, right now!" The kids stared at Pedro wide-eyed and quickly flew away

Nico snorted and Chloe shook her head, "Pedro, that's not how you talk to children."

The cardinal whipped around and sighed, "Oh it's you. Did you find them?"

Both canaries shook their head and Nico asked, "You find anything?"

"Nah man. Nobody here has any idea where those kids are."

Chloe put her face in her wings and winced, "What are we gonna do?"

Nico pouted at her and said softly, "It'll be okay. We just need to regroup. Let's go find Rafael and my parents and see what they've found out."

Chloe looked at him and nodded, "Kay."

"Chloe!" Everyone turned to see Tipa flying towards them. When he landed, he breathed heavily, "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"What is it? Did you find Raffy's kids?" Chloe asked anxiously.

Tipa shook his head, "No, I just needed to give you this." He held up a closed envelope. She looked at it questioningly and said, "What is it?"

Tipa shrugged, "I don't know. Some bird just told me to give it to you."

"Alright thanks." Chloe said and after Tipa left, she turned to Nico and Pedro.

"What do you think it is?" Pedro asked, eyeing the envelope curiously.

"Only one way to find out." She tore the envelope open and pulled out a piece of paper. She read aloud, "'Chloe, come to Mel's Boat Shop at Dusk. Come alone or the toucan kids die.'" Her eyes widened and she looked up at Nico fearfully. He took the paper from her wings and reread it.

"Look who signed it." He pointed to the 'R' with a diagonal slash through it on the bottom of the page.

"Why do they want you?" Pedro raised an eyebrow at Chloe curiously.

She shook her head, "I don't know! Why do they want me to go to Mel's Boat Shop? I don't know where that is!"

"It's an abandoned boat shop on the other side of the city." Nico frowned, "Nobody's been there for years."

Chloe gulped and looked at Nico, "What do I do?"

"Well one thing's for sure, I'm definitely not letting you go alone."

"But-" She started to protest but Nico cut her off.

"No buts. If you go alone they'll kill you."

"But if you come with they'll kill the kids!"

Nico looked her in the eyes and said softly, "Chloe, I'm not gonna let them hurt you or the kids. We're in this together." He held out his wing for her to take and whispered, "Right?"

She looked at him, remembering their conversation earlier and smiled. Taking his wing, she said, "Together."

Nico smiled, "Now there's the Chloe I know."

Pedro smirked at the googly-eyed canaries and cleared his throat a little, "Um I'd hate to interrupt your little staring contest but are we gonna go tell Raffy or what?"

Nico rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassingly and said, "Uh I don't think we should tell him."

"Why not?"

"Well because we're already risking it enough with the two of us going along and Raffy's already stressed enough so I don't think he could handle it all. I think it'd be best if we just go, get the kids and explain it to him later."

Chloe nodded in agreement, "Yeah, and I don't wanna risk anymore lives."

"Okay, well what are we gonna do then?" Pedro asked.

Chloe looked at Nico and shrugged, "Do what the note says I guess. What time is it?"

"Late afternoon," Nico said, "It'll probably be another two hours until it starts getting dark."

Pedro groaned, "And what're we suppose to do until then?"

Nico walked over, still holding Chloe's wing, and sat down at a table, "Wait."

* * *

Nico kept his eyes alert as he watched the boat shop. Since it was getting dark, the building was gloomy. The entire place looked like it belonged in a horror movie. Even though Nico was nervous, he stayed calm for Chloe's sake. Chloe, however, was a mess. Her throat was constricted from fear and she was trying her hardest not to shake, even though both Nico and Pedro could feel the branch shaking from her. Nico placed a wing on her shoulder, causing her to flinch, and he whispered, "Relax. Everything will be fine." When she looked at him, he could see the fear in her eyes, and he added, "I won't let them hurt you." Chloe nodded, though it didn't make her feel any better. Nico looked over at Pedro and said quietly, "I think you should stay here."

Pedro stared at Nico and shook his head, "Nuh uh man! I ain't letting you do this alone!"

"If something goes wrong, one of us needs to be able to go get help. But if you go in there with us, there's a chance you won't be able to get out."

Chloe winced a little and Pedro mumbled, "Fine. I don't like it but I'll go with it."

Nico looked at Chloe and asked, "You ready?"

"Wait, shouldn't we have a signal or something? So you can let me know if something bad happens." Pedro asked abruptly.

Nico thought for a moment and said, "I got it!" He began to whistle a song, letting the quietness of the forest carry out the notes. When he finished, he said, "If you hear that, it means to go get help as fast as you can okay?"

Pedro nodded, "Okay."

Nico turned his attention to the boat shop and said to Chloe, "Let's go." They both cautiously flew off the branch, leaving a nervous looking Pedro behind. They swooped downwards, flying as close to the ground as possible. When they reached the building, they swiftly flew through one of the broken windows. Even though it was only twilight outside, the darkness inside the shop ultimately made the situation more perilous. The pungent scent of algae, wet earth, and old gasoline filled the air as Nico and Chloe landed on the dusty desk. They surveyed the shop nervously and quietly. There were boxes of old stuff stacked against the walls and aisles of shelves with useless boating supplies.

Chloe suddenly had that feeling again. Her throat tightened as her heart rate increased rapidly. Her eyes scanned every dark corner, searching for anything that seemed out of place. Again, she couldn't see anything but she could feel them watching her. Her breathing was becoming louder, causing Nico to look at her.

"What is it? Chloe?" He suddenly became very uneasy. He could see the terror in her eyes.

She looked over at him and whispered, "They're here."

Before Nico could respond, a sharp pain emitted from his lower back as he was harshly thrown to the ground. He tried to look over at Chloe but something was suddenly put over his head, only allowing him to see blackness. He could, however, hear Chloe screaming. He struggled against whatever was holding him down and yelled, "Chloe! Chloe!" He didn't know what else to say so he just kept screaming her name.

"Nico! Help!" Chloe's voice came from his right. She wasn't far away. He tried reaching for her but his wings were held back. He tried to struggle again but it was getting him nowhere. He suddenly remembered Pedro and began to whistle as loudly as possible, hoping Pedro would hear it.

* * *

Pedro paced back and forth on the branch, unable to sit still. The more he waited, the more nervous he got. The fact that they didn't tell anybody that they were here didn't help much. They were completely alone in this, making the situation more dangerous.

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream emitted from inside the building, making Pedro jump out of his feathers. "CHLOE!" Without thinking, Pedro jumped off the branch and flew towards the building as fast as his wings could go. As he was flying closer to the building, he could just faintly make out Nico's whistle, telling him to go get help. Instead of flying away to get help, though, he continued flying towards the building. "I'm coming for ya buddy!"

He flew through the broken window and immediately saw three large birds, getting ready to fly out a window on the other side of the room. It was too dark to identify what kind of birds they were but they were big. Pedro noticed Nico and Chloe had bags covering their heads, so they couldn't see their attackers. "HEY!" The cardinal screeched angrily. The three birds turned and Pedro demanded, "Let. Them. Go."

The birds looked at each other for a moment and the one who was carrying Chloe glanced down at her and growled, "What is _he _doing here?"

"Pedro!" The cardinal could hear Nico's muffled voice from behind the bag, "Get help! GO!"

Pedro's eyes widened and he gulped as the bird holding Nico shouted, "Get him!" The cardinal quickly whipped around and rocketed out of the building and into the forest. He flew fast, not even bothering to look back. He didn't know if anyone was following him and he didn't care, he just needed to get to Rafael before who knew what would happen to Nico and Chloe.

* * *

**Sorry it's a little short, I tried to make suspenseful haha until next chapter! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello! It's been a while hasn't it? First off, EmmerzK is sorry this chapter took so long, but you can't blame her! She has reasons. Second, I shall apologize for my lack of motivation lately...I have been OBSESSED with a book series called The Mortal Instrument and also The Infernal Devices! Seriously, they are so good! Anyway, that's not why we're here. You're here to read while I enjoy your nice, welcomed reviews! And I promise to update the next chapter asap! :) Thank you readers and enjoy! **

Pedro's wings were burning with an intensity he had never felt before as he fled from the Raptor. The chaser in particular was an Eagle, big and black with fierce looking talons. Pedro had been able to flee into the jungle and was weaving through trees, vines, bushes, anything in his path, to evade the bird of prey. He only had to dodge the sharp talons a few times so far, but with his growing fatigue, he knew he had to do something quickly.

The Eagle, drawing closer, started to mockingly sing a song to the tune of the Americans' Here we go round the mulberry bush, "Here we go round the jungle, the Eagle chases the Cardinal. Here we go round the jungle-"

Just then the Eagle grabbed Pedro out of mid-air and slammed him belly down on the forest floor. The Eagle grinned ravenously, "Pop goes the Cardinal."

Pedro gritted his beak as the Eagle began squeezing his body tighter and tighter. He hoped those talons wouldn't cut through his flesh. "Get… off…of… meeee…"

"Sorry, no can do fats-o. I'm afraid you just know too mu-"

A screech broke through the air and the weight was suddenly taken away. Pedro inhaled heavily and looked up to see two more Eagles tackling the Raptor in the dirt ahead of him. The Raptor regained his footing and swiped his talons at one, slicing his leg—the brown Eagle screeched and backed away for a moment.

"Enough!" shouted the second new Eagle. The Black Eagle hissed his dissent but stayed where he was. "Back to your hideout and don't let me see you near him again."

The Raptor straightened and chuckled maliciously, "You rebels should be thankful my full battalion is not with me. I'd take my own advice if I were you, Victor."

Victor dug his talons into the dirt and rocks beneath him and growled, "Get out of my sight before I change my mind."

The Black Raptor smirked and immediately took his chance to leave. As he disappeared into the forest, Victor and the other Eagle faced Pedro, still lying in the dirt where he had been left, but was staring at the Eagles with wide eyes and open beak.

"You alright, kid?" Victor approached him cautiously.

Pedro blinked and slowly stood, "Umm… yeah…" Suddenly his eyes widened again and he remembered, "Oh my gosh, Nico and Chloe! Thanks dudes, but I gotta-"

"Whoa now, you're going to stay in my custody for right now." Victor hopped forward and blocked his path. "We are already informed about Nico and Chloe's capture and we've already got a plan. But we're going to take you to Rafael's home and we're going to keep an eye on all of you to make sure nothing else happens. Alright?" Victor explained slowly so Pedro understood.

Pedro stood there silently for a moment, knowing he could trust these Eagles, but one question nagged in his mind. "Alright… But that bird called you rebels. What exactly are you rebelling from?"

Victor looked away and sighed, "Long story."

**Xxx**

Nico and Chloe sat in silence as they were being carried to who knew where. The Raptors were huge birds, their massive wings carrying them at top speeds to their destination. Only once did a tree branch slap Nico in the face at one point, so the ride itself wasn't too uncomfortable, minus the talons digging into each of their sides.

Nico was managing to stay calm for the moment and was hoping Pedro was able to get help. Meanwhile, Chloe's mind was racing a hundred miles a minute.

Who are these birds? Where are they taking us? What do they want with us? What do they want with ME? These and other questions raced through her mind so fast she wasn't able to register them all.

The canaries' stomachs suddenly dropped when the Raptors took a speedy dive toward what they assumed would be the hideout. The canaries' were each wondering where they could be going when their bodies were suddenly blasted with a shot of cold air and darkness shrouded them. As if the bags over their heads weren't making their vision dark enough.

The Raptors landed, neither bothering to lessen the pressure on either canary. The canaries began struggling again, but were only squeezed tighter.

"Relax, you," the one holding Nico commanded, shaking him around like a rag doll. "Or I'll-"

A deep, harsh voice interrupted him, "You won't do anything until ordered. Take those bags off their heads."

"Yes sir." The Raptors wrenched the bags off the canaries' heads and they both blinked to see where they were. Nico's bottlecap fell through his bag and he quickly retrieved it before the Raptors disposed of it forever. Nico was the first to regain his vision and he stared at the scene before him in confusion.

Chloe spoke before he did, her voice shaking a little. "Where are we?"

Nico slowly got to his knees and helped her do the same before replying, "An abandoned gold mine."

A single kerosene lamp was lit a few feet away on a separate table, but it was enough to light the whole cavern. Workers' benches and tables, tracks, wooden wagons, dusty tools, rusty construction equipment, and pitch black mine shafts could be seen in all directions before them. Nico took a quick glance behind them and the mine's exit could be seen from a few hundred yards away. He gulped—it would take a miracle for them to get out unseen from all the Raptors.

It took Chloe a minute to take in their surroundings other than the mine. Nico had taken in the gravity of the situation from the start, looking at more than just the mine. He also looked at the rails on the rock walls, the rafters high above them… When Chloe finally took notice of them, her blood ran cold.

Raptors—there had to be at least a hundred of them scattered throughout the mine.

Chloe began to shake and Nico put a wing around her shoulders to keep her steady, even though his own heart was pounding like a drum. They both jumped when another large bird landed almost over-top of them—an Ornate-Hawk Eagle.

They stood staring each other down for nearly a minute before the bird of prey spoke in a deep, but surprisingly quiet voice, "I've been waiting a long time for this."

Nico's eyebrows furrowed; the bird was staring at Chloe with a look of pure menace. He pulled her behind him and took a step forward, demanding, "Who are you?"

A chorus of quiet chuckles ran through the room at Nico's accusatory question, almost as if he should already know. The Ornate merely smiled, a chuckle rumbling in his chest for a moment before he replied, "I am Ivan; Commander of the Raptors."

Nico's expression didn't change nor did he let go of Chloe's wing, "What exactly are the Raptors? What do you want with Chloe and why have you been chasing her all these years?"

"Whoa, son, don't hurt yourself. That's twenty years of history just in the first question alone." Ivan smirked.

"Well it would appear that we have time. Start talking." Nico growled.

The Ornate's crest rose a bit and a hush fell over the Raptors. Uh-oh… Nico thought. Ivan sighed heavily, regaining any lost composure. "Since you don't know anything about me, I will let that be your only free life. Mouth off to me again and I'll rip your vocal chords out. Got it?"

Nico gulped and discreetly nodded. The Ornate stood taller, "Good. Now we have some business to attend to. Lights!"

The canaries were momentarily blinded when flood lights were turned on from above, dissipating the darkness. The corners of the huge mine shaft were still pretty dark, not to mention the tunnels, but one could see a lot better now. Nico quickly took a closer look at the birds of prey surrounding them. He bit back the shudder for Chloe's sake, who was still clinging to his back. Any imaginable or well-known bird of prey species had to be present, and they were not lacking in size or numbers.

"Both of you, come with me." Ivan ordered before taking off and flying around a corner.

Nico and Chloe suspiciously and cautiously took to the air and followed him, the two Raptors who kidnapped them right on their tail feathers. The Raptors perched throughout the room hungrily watched the canaries' every move.

A few long and wide desks sat in the middle of the room; Ivan landed on the closest one. The table was strewn with old papers and miners' supplies, but there were a few metal cages, a mysterious black box that another Raptor was perched on, and, curiously, there was water splashed on the table surrounding the box. As they landed side by side, Nico managed to murmur to Chloe, "Just stay calm. We'll be fine." She discreetly nodded to say she heard him, although she was terrified to the very core.

When the group landed, three little, bright orange beaks appeared at one of the cage's walls, and Nico's stomach dropped. "Uncle Nico!" the Toucan chicks cried.

"Kids!" Nico called to them in relief, but stayed put for their sakes. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Paco replied, standing tall in front of his two siblings when a Barn Owl landed beside them, yellow eyes blazing.

"Alright, stay calm okay?" Nico assured them, focusing again on Ivan, who was clearly growing impatient. "We'll get you out of here, I promise."

"Enough. You aren't going anywhere, so don't get cocky." Ivan growled. "But I didn't bring you here to talk about them." Ivan turned to Chloe, an evil glint in his eye. "The game's up Chloe, time to stop running. Where is the rebel base?"

Chloe and Nico gaped at him. "Rebels? What rebel-" Nico asked, but was cut off.

"I was talking to Chloe, not you!" Ivan snapped at him. He whipped his gaze to Chloe.

Chloe was at a loss for words. "I… I don't know-"

"Yes you do." The Ornate's crest began to raise again, his voice going harder.

"No, I swear! I don't know anything about you or what you want from me or any rebels! I promise!" Chloe pleaded.

Ivan's eyes narrowed but his eyes drifted to Chloe's sweatshirt. His anger was suddenly replaced by humor, and he scoffed, approaching the black box with the Raptor sentry still perched on it. "Ha, alright. If you say so. Then why don't you just say that to your precious brother."

He quickly cocked his head at the sentry who snapped open a pully-door on the black box. A yellow canary suddenly threw himself out of the water, clinging to the walls and violently coughing up water.

Chloe's world slowed and her eyes widened. "Cameron!" She tried to run to him but a Raptor held her back.

Nico's eyes were as wide as saucers. So he was here…

Cameron managed to stop coughing up water and looked up at Nico and Chloe. His eyes widened when he saw his sister. "Chloe…" he murmured.

Faster than expected he leaped out of the box and tried to get away, but Ivan harshly grabbed him. "Chloe, you have to get out of here-" Cameron exclaimed, but was harshly cut off when Ivan slammed him down onto the table. The canary gasped in pain after his forehead connected with the wood.

"No! Stop, don't hurt him!" Chloe cried desperately.

Ivan smiled at the struggling canary in his talons, but replied, "Your choice Chloe. Either you tell us where the rebel base is or your brother dies. Which is more important?"

"I already told you, I don't know anything about the rebels! I don't even know what they're rebelling from!" Chloe cried, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Cameron's struggles were beginning to lessen.

"Aww, so sad. Cameron was such a fun toy to play with too." Ivan moaned wistfully.

One of the Raptors suddenly spoke up, prodding Nico with a sharp talon, "Sir, what if he knows?"

The Ornate stopped squeezing Cameron for a moment and paused in thought, staring daggers at Nico.

Nico did a double take, "Me? What do I know? You came to my doorstep, remember? I ain't got nothin!"

Ivan thought for a few moments longer and then smiled mischievously. "It's too bad that you can't pull off a legitimate lie." He made a quick gesture at Chloe and the Raptor holding her suddenly yanked her away from Nico.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Nico asked, his heart leaping in his chest. He tried to follow the Raptor but his own bodyguard held him back by the wing.

Ivan walked over to the box and unceremoniously dumped Cameron back in before closing the lid. Luckily the canary took a deep breath before hitting the water and being locked in. Nico's eyes widened and his gaze snapped back to Chloe, who was being roughly shoved onto her back by the Raptor.

The Ornate placed his sharp talons on Chloe's chest and stomach and added pressure. Her eyes widened drastically and her heart began pounding in her chest.

"Tell me where the hideout is." Ivan demanded, not looking at the bottlecap wearing canary.

Nico's heart rate accelerated, "I don't-"

"Stop saying you don't know! Just tell me if you don't want Chloe to die!" Ivan screeched, pushing down on Chloe harder. She began whimpering at the prospect of being cut open—it wouldn't take much.

Nico's heart was racing and he racked his brain. How could he possibly know? He couldn't know could he? He only had a matter of seconds before Cameron would drown and Chloe would be seriously injured, if not killed! How could he just-

A thought hit him. What if he really did know? He remembered Chloe saying a few days ago, He's here. He's in Rio somewhere. Well Cameron surely was in Rio… so could the hideout be here too? But Nico hadn't obviously been there! How would he know where it was? If anyone knew, Cameron did!

But apparently they thought he knew…because he had been with Chloe all this time.

Then, out of nowhere, just as Ivan's talons nearly punctured Chloe's skin, Nico murmured, "The gazebo…"

Ivan's talons landed beside Chloe and grated into the wood, making her yelp in fear. Tears were already running down her face from the prospect of getting skewered through, but they evaporated when Nico spoke. He didn't know any more than she did! Where did that come from?

Ivan looked at Nico dead in the eyes with a murderous glint, "What?"

Nico, still trying to piece together his thoughts, slowly replied, "The gazebo. West side of the forest."

Chloe gaped at him. Was he seriously just playing them? Then a pessimistic voice inside her head said, You're just going to die anyway. She rolled her eyes lightly.

The Ornate approached Nico slowly, making him back up as far as he could. The Commander leaned down and said, "If this is a lie, I'm going to bring your parents and fat cardinal friend in here and murder them in front of your eyes slowly and painfully." Standing up straight he ordered, "We fly out in an hour. Prepare."

The Raptors around the room squawked excitedly, many flying around to grab whatever weapons they needed. The Ornate turned to the sentry at the box, "Throw them all in a cage."

Nico and Chloe were thrown unceremoniously in a metal cage on the other end of the table, each whacking their heads on a metal bar.

"Uncle Nico!" the kids cried from their cage. "Are you okay?"

Nico glanced at them but didn't answer; he was more focused on Chloe.

"Ow…" Chloe moaned, holding her head.

"Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay!" Nico immediately asked, pulling her towards him and checking her over in complete fear that she had been hurt.

"No, I'm fin-" Chloe's voice stopped in her throat and her eyes widened. "Cameron!"

The sentry from the box reopened the cage and dropped in a soaking wet, unmoving Cameron. Chloe and Nico rushed over immediately.

"Cameron!" Chloe shook her brother. He was unresponsive. She shook her head, "No. No, Cameron please, I need you to wake up!"

"Chloe…" Nico pulled her away from her brother as tears started running down her face. She buried her face in his chest, sobbing. The sound of her cries nearly broke his heart…

Nico tried to stem his own tears welling up and sat her up. He crawled back over to Cameron's body and rested his head on Cameron's chest. There was no heartbeat.

He sat up and sighed, unable to look at Chloe. The sound of her sobs beside him ripped through him like a thousand knives… and he was suddenly determined to revive Cameron.

He had seen humans do it before. Never before had he ever thought he'd need it one day, but he tried it. Pushing his wings on Cameron's chest multiple times and then breathing air into Cameron's lungs, and repeating the process, he tried to revive Cameron. Chloe watched on, tears still flowing but her sobs subsided in the hopes that whatever Nico was doing, it would work.

After nearly a minute of no success, he wondered if it would really work. But then, Cameron moaned and moved his head a little bit to the side.

"Cameron?" Chloe jumped forward as Nico quickly sat him up.

Cameron returned to the living as anyone who had just been drowned would—trying to breathe but violently coughing out water instead. It was nearly three minutes before he could breathe properly and even then, Nico held him up to be sure he wouldn't pass out. It was very likely anyway.

Finally Cameron was able to lie back down and just breathe, his sister leaning on his chest and crying softly. He had his wing on her back to comfort her, but he didn't try talking yet. Nico realized how tense his body was and exhaled heavily in order to relax.

"Thanks." Cameron managed to whisper to him.

Nico looked over at him and gave him a surprised, but short smile. "You're welcome."

Shock took over Chloe's face and she sat up, looking at Nico. His eyebrows furrowed, "What?"

Chloe continued staring at him in amazement, "You saved him."

Nico opened his beak to respond, but no words came out. He just saved a life. Whoa…

Chloe lunged forward and pulled him into a bone-crushingly tight hug. Trying not to cry again, she whispered, "Thank you…thank you…"

Nico blinked and hugged her back, resting his beak on her shoulder. "I'm no hero. I just couldn't stand hearing you cry…"

Chloe nearly started crying again because her heart basically melted. She pulled back and then, surprising Nico and herself, planted a soft kiss on his cheek, "That's probably the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."

Nico stared at her and shrugged. "I wasn't trying."

Cameron suddenly spoke from his place on the floor, "I suppose that's what makes you so attractive."

Chloe clutched her beak to keep from laughing out loud. Laughter in a scene like this would probably draw attention from the Raptors. They were supposed to be despairing, not laughing. But even Nico had to contain the chuckle that erupted from his own beak. That was, by far, the most unexpected thing he had heard from anyone, Pedro included.

Sophia suddenly piped up from the kids' cage, "Are you okay, mister?"

Cameron smiled a bit, "Yes, I'll be alright. You kids just sit tight, okay?" The kids nodded and stayed silent. He then asked his Nico, "What did you tell them about the hideout?"

Nico frowned. "I said the gazebo but I have no idea-"

"How did you know?" Cameron asked incredulously.

Nico gaped at him, as did Chloe. "It is there?"

"Shh!" Cameron looked around warily. Murmuring, he replied, "Yes. We've been there for a while now. It's actually under the gazebo in a maze of underground tunnels. Pretty sweet how we found it actually."

"How do you get in?" Chloe asked, intrigued.

Cameron shook his head, "Not here; I'll tell you when we get out."

Before anyone could respond, a female voice could be heard from somewhere inside the mine. It was getting closer, so Cameron slowly sat up and faced the intruders with Nico and Chloe. A Red-Tailed hawk wearing an eye patch was carrying a sassy yellow canary in his talons toward the cage.

"Get your filthy claws off of me, you big jerk!"

Nico's eyes widened and he jumped up. "Amanda?!"

Amanda's head snapped toward the cage, "Nico!"

She was soon roughly thrown inside the cage with the other canaries. They helped her regain her footing as she yelled at the retreating Hawk, "Yeah that's right, leave! That's what you get for-"

Nico clamped a wing over her beak, "Shhhh!" She glared at him but she remained quiet. He removed his wing, "Calm down. Talking to these guys like that is going to get yourself killed. Why are you here anyway? More bait because of me?"

"You mean her?" Amanda gave Chloe a look, who was still sitting on the floor beside Cameron.

Nico huffed, "Don't start. Please just answer the question."

Amanda suddenly avoided eye contact and fear replaced her sassy look. "Umm… N-no reason."

Nico and the two siblings raised their eyebrows. Nico felt annoyance rising in his chest, but didn't show it and instead spoke softly, "Amanda." She slowly regained eye contact and he was surprised at the visible tears in her eyes. "Why are you here?"

Amanda sighed and slid to the floor and buried her face in her wings. Nico was, again for the hundredth time today, shocked. In all his years knowing Amanda, he'd never seen her like this.

He sat down beside her and waited patiently. Finally she sniffed and came out of her wings. Wiping her eyes, she said, "They came to me. They said if I would help them find Chloe, they wouldn't hurt you-"

"What?" Nico gasped. Glancing at Chloe, he added, "And you did?"

"Nico, they threatened to 'permanently borrow' you. Imagine a couple of these massive birds walking into your home and threatening to basically kidnap your parents and you knew that if you didn't do what they said, you'd never see them again. That's why I agreed. Even if I didn't lov- ummm… have f-feelings for you I still wouldn't… you know, just let them do whatever…" Amanda trailed off.

Nico didn't know what to say. She had a point. But he knew that deep down her motives were probably just to keep him around so she could end up with him. The Raptors merely used her as another ploy to attack. No surprise there; they literally got him from all angles.

Cameron then asked, "What exactly have you done for them?"

Amanda shrunk down again. "I… umm…" She looked at Nico disdainfully, "You… you remember when Pedro passed out on the dance floor?"

A pang of anger suddenly built up in his chest and she read it in his eyes instantly. "They made me drug your drinks, I didn't think- Nico, please just listen to me!"

Nico had stood up and walked away, wings on his hips. He wheeled on her, "Listen to you? I am listening to you, and you know what I hear? I hear a young, selfish girl that says she loves me, yet gangs up with these freaks who are trying to kill me, and you actually think that you doing what they say is going to get me to marry you!"

Cameron winced. Poor guy…

Chloe stood and pulled a very frustrated Nico away from a nearly in-tears Amanda. "What?" he growled.

Chloe kept a calm face, "Relax. You won't get to the bottom of anything if you're yelling at her."

"But she could've-"

"Ah." Chloe placed a feather on his beak, making him freeze instantly. She giggled inside, loving how a single touch from a flight feather could make him listen to her instantly. Brilliant. "I know. I'm not saying I'm not upset either, but she was pulled into this. Granted her motives are selfish, but she didn't go to them. They went to her. She's just another piece of the puzzle that we have to figure out. The Raptors made all this mess complicated on purpose; we just have to play smarter."

Cameron had walked up and quietly interrupted, "Which is why we need to get out of here. We've already got a plan going out there, but while we're in here, we're more likely to be killed. They need us, so we have to get out."

Nico sighed heavily, "But how? It's not like we can just pick the lock and fly out the front door."

Cameron smirked and barely whispered, "That's why we have someone with an inside job."

As if on cue, a large black Eagle with yellow beak and talons swooped from the shadows and landed in front of them. Amanda jerked, being the closest but he quickly put a feather to his beak, telling her to be silent. As the bird began picking the lock, Cameron pulled Amanda to her feet and ushered everyone to the cage front.

The lock soon snapped open and everyone noiselessly slipped out. The Eagle retrieved some yellow bird dolls (stolen from a store) from a bag that he had brought with him and he threw them in the cage before replacing the lock. "That way they'll still see some yellow. Let's go." The Eagle whispered to Cameron before hopping over to the kids' cage and helping them out as well. The kids didn't need to be told to be silent; the group was soon taking off in the opposite direction of the entrance.

With a small light strapped to his ankle, the black Eagle led the way through a tunnel farther back in the mine. After a few minutes of cautious flying, Chloe quietly asked Cameron, "How are we going to get out of here? What if they find we're gone?"

"Don't worry; it'll take them at least a few minutes to discover we're gone with those dolls in there. And even if they do sooner than we hope, it'll take them a while to figure out which mine we went through." Cameron smiled.

"I wouldn't be too sure." The Eagle, whose name was Thomas, remarked in a deep voice. "There are only a handful of tunnels that lead out to an exit. And with their numbers, they could catch up to us pretty quickly, which is why we need to pick up the pace. We have to get to the hideout before they do or our whole mission is compromised."

Nico piped up, "What is the mission?"

"Long story, pal. Will have to tell you later when we have time." Cameron remarked flatly.

Nico sighed, "Everyone says that. What I'd give for some decent answers."

"Sorry man." Cameron replied and looked over at the silent Amanda. He glided over to her and asked, "You keepin' up?" She nodded at him, still not speaking. He didn't blame her though.

"Alright let's stop talking for a while. The quieter we are, the better." Thomas instructed from the front.

The group continued flying for another ten minutes in silence. They began to wonder, besides Thomas, when they'd ever see daylight again, but soon enough, a breeze could be felt. They picked up the pace and soon enough they flew out of the side of the mountain and into the open night sky.

Stars littered the heavens with a few puffs of clouds, and the moon shining brightly. It was all they could do to keep from cheering aloud at the freedom they felt!

"Are we taking everyone to the hideout?" Cameron asked, flying next to Thomas.

"No, we're taking them to Rafael's home. That way, we can keep an eye on all of them. Also, I'm sure Rafael will be relieved to see his children unscathed."

Nico, overhearing the conversation, suddenly said, "We're going to Rafael's?"

"Yes," Thomas's eyes focused on the forest in front of him, "Your parents will be there; as well as Pedro."

Nico let out a sigh of relief and the group flew in silence the rest of the way. He was relieved to know that Pedro got away safely. The thought of anything happening to Pedro made his stomach turn, he couldn't lose his best friend. He glanced over at Chloe, who was flying silently beside him. She seemed to not be paying much attention but every once in awhile, Nico noticed, she would look at Cameron. She probably had a lot of questions to ask him, Nico guessed. He would too if he hadn't seen his brother in two years...

Suddenly, Thomas began to slow and glide downwards, and Nico assumed they were nearing Rafael's hollow. The group followed as Thomas landed on a branch just outside the hollow door.

"You're not coming in?" Cameron asked, landing next to him.

Thomas shook his head, "I have to talk to the Commissioner. And he'll want to speak to you as well so as soon as you're done here, come to the hideout." Without another word, he took off into the cool,night sky.

Cameron sighed as he followed the others into the hollow. He immediately noticed Rafael, Eva, Hannah, Aaron, and Pedro all gathered around a large round table in, what he guessed, was the kitchen area. The rest of the toucan kids were nowhere in sight. Sleeping. He thought. He suddenly realized how tired he was. He had almost died less than an hour ago and with all this flying around, needless to say, it was starting to take its toll on him. He stayed by the door of the hollow along with Amanda.

Rafael's head snapped up when he heard the group entered and he looked as tired as Cameron felt. The toucan's eyes widened when he saw his kids running towards him. He immediately stood up and wrapped his wings around his kids, Eva joining them a moment later with a cry of relief.

"NICO!" A female's voice shrieked and Cameron saw Hannah run forward and pull Nico into a bone-crushing hug, murmuring something to him that Cameron couldn't hear.

"Mom!" Nico said, slightly embarrassed, but smiled anyway. Hannah pulled away and lightly smacked Nico upside the head. "Ow..."

"Don't ever do that to me again!" She yelled and hugged him again.

Chloe giggled at the scene and Aaron came over to her, "Are you alright?"

She smiled a little and nodded, "I think so..." Aaron grinned and squeezed her shoulder lightly before turning to Hannah who was still fussing over Nico.

"Come on, honey, give the boy some space." Aaron said, peeling his mate away from their son.

Nico breathed heavily and grinned but before he could say anything, another pair of wings were around him, sufficiently crushing him again. "Oh man I was so worried about you! I thought you were a goner man! For once just listen to your mom and never do that again!" Pedro had lifted Nico off the floor and was swinging him around as he spoke. By the time he had put him down, Nico's face was an alarming shade of purple.

"Is everyone done hugging me now? As you can see I am perfectly unharmed." Nico said, sounding more exasperated than angry.

"We were just worried about you man! What happened anyway?" Pedro asked. Rafael had walked over and Eva was putting the toucan kids to bed. Cameron and Amanda still stood by the door, watching everyone with rapt attention. But it was Chloe who spoke, "It's kind of a long story..."

Nico suddenly looked at her, he had almost forgotten she was there. There was a feeling of relief that she was here with them and something else. He suddenly felt angry. He felt angry at her for keeping so many secrets from him. Angry at her for almost getting his family killed. He was even angry at her for being so darn pretty, not that she could do anything about that.

Chloe, who hadn't noticed Nico staring at her, opened her beak to begin telling them what happened, but Nico's voice stopped her. "You knew."

She looked at him and recoiled. He was looking at her in a way that made her heart speed up, and not in a good way. "W-what?"

"You knew all along didn't you?"

Chloe shook her head, "No, Nico I didn-"

"Don't lie to me!" Nico shouted suddenly. Chloe shut her beak in shock. He then took a deep breath, trying to remain calm, "My entire family, all my friends, even acquaintances, heck even AMANDA, have been put in serious danger because of everything going on with them. Now tell me the truth. What is going on?"

Chloe remained silent for another few seconds before sighing, "I'm not lying to you when I say I don't know. Cameron knows more than I do because I was too little-" She stopped when Nico suddenly huffed and took a few steps away, "What? I'm trying to explain!"

"You're not making sense, Chloe! None of it makes sense!" Nico argued.

"Maybe if you'd just give me a chance-"

"Give you a chance!? I've been asking you since we first met! You're the one who won't just be straight up with me!"

"I don't understand enough to be straight up, Nico. All I know for sure is that they need me. Cameron needs me to help them."

Nico stared at her in shock, "To help them with what?"

Chloe just stared at him, her beak opening and closing. Everyone remained silent, even Cameron didn't know what to say. "I-"

"You don't know, do you? Of course you don't! I suppose you also don't know what those Raptors want with us right?"

Chloe bit her beak, "Nico-"

"No. I trusted you. But all you did was put me and my family in danger. Everything was fine until you showed up." Nico immediately regretted it the moment the words came out of his beak. Chloe flinched at his harsh words and tried to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. Her face turned from hurt to angry and she glared up at him.

"You're right. It's all my fault. But think about this, you offered to help me. You could've stopped helping me anytime you wanted but you didn't. I even told you that. But every time I did you said something to me, you remember what it was?" She didn't give him a chance to answer, "We are in this together. Whatever happened to that?"

Nico looked away from her and glowered at the wall, "Things change."

"Things change?" Chloe inquired, "Or people change?"

There was a long moment of silence. The tension in the room was so thick, nobody dared to speak. Finally Chloe spoke up again, her voice cracking, "It's clear...it's clear at this point that this won't work."

Nico blinked, surprised at this sudden turn, "What?"

"You and me..." Chloe said softly. Looking back up at him again she said, "You're a free spirit, Nico. You don't need someone with this much danger and drama. You have to be here for your family and friends." Now murmuring sadly, she said, "Rio isn't for me."

A tight knot suddenly formed in his throat and he swallowed thickly, trying to get rid of it. But he kept a straight face and nodded once, "If that's how you feel."

Chloe wasn't sure what she expected him to say. She had hoped that he would tell her they could work something out, that they could be together. She definitely didn't expect him to just agree with her. He would want to fight for me...if he loved me. But it was clear that he didn't, and that was enough to cause the tears to stream down her cheeks. She took a deep, shaky breath. Stop crying. You look pathetic. She looked at Rafael, the large but lovable toucan who would be willing to do anything for anyone without a second thought. And Pedro, who was one of the funniest birds she's ever met but just as loyal. And Hannah, who was short and sweet but powerful. And Aaron, who was as charmingly handsome as Nico, but less tempered.

Chloe grinned softly at them, not looking at Nico, "Thank you. For everything. I am very grateful for all you've done and I wish-" Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat, "I wish I could do something in return but I think that it's clear that the best thing I could for you is leave. It may take a while but as soon as the Raptors realize that I no longer stay here, they should leave you alone." She hesitated. She wasn't good at saying goodbye, she's never made friends like this before. The thought that she couldn't stay here and be with them tore at her heart but she fought the urge to cry as she croaked out, "It was great meeting all of you." Nobody said anything. They stared at her sadly, not knowing what to say.

Chloe looked at Nico again and they locked eyes. She knew that she would never see him again, but she reminded herself that he didn't need her. He didn't love her. But the hurt in his eyes was almost enough to make her break down again. Before the tears came again, she walked past him and grabbed Cameron's wing. "Come on, let's go." She said quietly and, without looking at him, she pulled him out of the hollow.

They flew off the branch together and after a few minutes of silence, Cameron looked over at her, "Are you okay?"

Chloe, wiping tears from her face, shook her head. "No, not anymore."

**Xxx**

Nico stared at the door in shock. What did I just do? His heart was pounding. She was gone. And she wasn't coming back. He mentally cursed himself for being angry with her. It wasn't her fault, he knew that, he was just blaming her because he didn't want to blame himself. I'm an-

"Idiot!" His mother walked over and smacked his arm, not lightly either. "Why did you do that?"

Nico rubbed his arm, "I was just angry! She should've told us-"

"She tried to! But you wouldn't listen to her!" Nico didn't say anything and Hannah scowled at him, "And you didn't have to be so mean to her. She's been through alot and it doesn't help that the boy that she's in love with is yelling at her instead of comforting her!"

Nico's eyes widened, "W-what?"

His mother rolled her eyes, "Oh don't act like you don't know." She paused when she saw the look of pure confusion on his face, "You really don't know?"

Amanda suddenly laughed from the doorway. Nico whipped around and looked at her in surprise. He didn't realize she was standing there. "What's so funny?"

Amanda grinned, "How clueless you are." Nico glared at her but before he could protest, she walked over to him, "You may not like me very much, Nico, but I'm a girl. And I know when a girl is in love with a boy. It's written all over her face every time she looks at you." Amanda paused and continued softly, "It's the same way you look at her." Nico stared at her in shock and she said, more to herself than him, "You look at her the way I wish you'd look at me."

Nico didn't know what to say. Could it have been obvious? The smiles, the soft looks, the giggling. Through it all, was she in love with him? More importantly, could he be in love with her? It was true, Chloe was different than any other girl he's ever met. Not to mention she was beautiful. Was it obvious that his heart rate would speed up a little every time he saw her. Every time she looked at him with those quiet blue-gray eyes. He didn't think anything of it at the time but now? Looking back at everything they've been through, could it be possible that somewhere along the line he had fallen in love with her, even though he had told himself once before that he didn't need a girl to be happy? That he was happy with it being just him and Pedro. Could he be happy without Chloe in his life?

The answer was no. He couldn't.

With new found determination, Nico walked to the door and stopped only when his mother asked, "What are you doing?"

He turned and grinned at her, "I'm going to go get my girl."


End file.
